A Beautiful Collision
by Merrymary05
Summary: AU: Darien Shields, one of the coolest guys in school, and Serena Thomas, a dedicated Christian, are partnered together for a school project all year long forcing their worlds to come together. How will it go? Follow their journey to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: It's been a while since I've written anything, but I'm excited to finally post this one. This is one of the first fanfics I've ever written and has been a work in progress for many years. Fair warning: Christianity plays a major role in this story so if that offends you then you don't have to read it. I understand that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and I respect that. I just ask that you show the same respect, keep an open mind, and avoid posting hateful comments in the reviews. Constructive criticism is much appreciated and I hope you enjoy the story!**

**Summary: (AU) Darien Shields (one of the coolest guys in school) and Serena Thomas (a dedicated Christian) are partnered together for a school project that forces their worlds to collide over the course of the entire school year. ****How will it go? Follow their journey to find out!**

Darien Shields was finally starting his senior year and for once in his life everything seemed to be going right. He managed to maintain almost perfect grades, he had good friends, and he was easily on his way to a great future. Something still seemed to be missing and he couldn't quite place his finger on what it was. He dismissed those thoughts and arrived at the school courtyard where his friends were already gathered. "Hey," he said.

"Hey Dar," his best friend Andrew Hansford said. Darien met Andrew when he transferred to the school two years ago. It was a rocky start, but now they were the best of friends.

"We're comparing schedules," his other friend Chad Murray said. Darien met Chad around the same time he met Andrew. Chad and Andrew grew up together and once Darien made a truce with Andrew the three guys were just about inseparable. "So far we all have lunch together in 3rd block."

"You can thank me for that," Beryl Stone said with a wink. "It's nice to have connections to the school leadership." Darien smiled politely at her. Even though he had broken up with her a few weeks ago after a year of dating, he and Beryl decided to remain friends and so far they were doing all right.

"What classes do you have, Darien?" Mina Adams asked as she continued to cuddle with Andrew. Mina was the peppy girl everyone loved. It was obvious Andrew had a crush on her so Darien gave him the nudge he needed and they had been together since last year.

"AP English, AP Chemistry, study block/lunch, and Sociology for the first semester," Darien started. Everyone else groaned. "What?"

"Your brain is gonna explode," Andrew said. "Senior year is supposed to be the time you get to slack off, but at least you took Sociology like I told you to."

"We can't slack off when we have to get into college," Darien replied.

"You of all people don't have to worry about getting into college," Rae Hinson said. Rae was best friends with Mina and Beryl. Once Mina started dating Andrew, Rae was forced to get to know Chad better and after a Halloween party last year Chad finally asked her out. "You gotta learn to relax a bit."

"Here's your chance," Beryl said. They all looked up and saw Serena Thomas about to walk by them. She looked like a normal student and nothing seemed out of the ordinary aside from the two buns she always wore on top of her blonde hair. "Hey Meatball Head!" Beryl called. "Nice shoes. Did you get them from the thrift store?"

Serena turned and looked down at her shoes before facing them with a smile. "No, I got them from Payless. They had a big sale this weekend."

"How fashionable," Beryl said sarcastically. "I'll definitely have to get some like yours." Serena smiled politely and continued walking into the school. As soon as she was gone the group burst into laughter.

"I got them from Payless," Chad said trying to mock her voice. It made the group laugh even more.

"Who still shops at Payless?" Rae asked.

Darien merely smirked. He really didn't see the big deal about Serena's shoes, but his friends entertained him nonetheless. The bell rang signaling ten more minutes before the tardy bell rang. "See you all at lunch," Darien said as he walked inside the school towards his English classroom.

"Hey," Beryl said as she caught up to him. "I'm really glad we're still friends."

"Me too," he said. He knew where this was going and tried to keep walking, but she grabbed his arm.

"I miss you," Beryl said stopping them in front of a classroom.

Darien sighed and shook her hand off. "We've been through this, Beryl. Our romance is over. We can either remain friends or nothing at all." Beryl sucked her teeth and hurried away. Darien just shook his head and went to take a seat in his classroom. He did care about Beryl once, but he also cared enough to break up with her when he knew things weren't going anywhere. He had every right to stop talking to her altogether since he caught her cheating on him, but he felt like he owed her since she was one of his first friends. _She'll understand_, he thought to himself as the tardy bell rang.

* * *

At lunch, Darien was the first to arrive at the table unofficially reserved for his friends. He looked up and happened to see Serena talking to Amy Anderson and Lita Kingston. It was an odd combination since Amy was the resident nerd and Lita was rumored to be a bully, but Serena seemed to have no problem conversing with them as they laughed together. _That girl_ he thought as he started eating his sandwich.

"Hey man," Andrew said as he sat across from him. "How are classes so far?"

"So far so good," Darien replied. "I have sociology next."

"Good now you can relax your brain cells. God knows you need to."

"You know I can't do that. The better I do in these AP classes, the faster I can get through college…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Andrew interrupted. "Slow down a bit and smell the roses every once in a while."

"Thanks for the advice, Mr. Fortune Cookie." Darien smirked while Andrew nudged him in the arm.

"Hey," Chad said as he, Rae, Mina and Beryl joined them. "What up?"

"Nothing," Andrew said as he cuddled with Mina. "Just talking about classes."

"I'm gonna love my English class," Mina said. "Ms. H. is so slack."

"Hey Darien," Rae said mischievously. "Did I just see you checking out Meatball Head?"

"Uh oh," Chad said goofily. "Darien and Meatball Head sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Darien rolled his eyes and punched Chad in the arm as the others laughed. "Please, Chad. There's no way that'll ever happen. My eyes were wandering and I just happened to see her talking to Amy and Lita."

"The circus you mean," Beryl suggested. "I guess you can't help but stare at the freak show because they're so appalling"

They continued to talk about other things, but Darien zoned out of the conversation and watched Serena again for some reason. Amy and Lita had left and she was reading what he assumed was her Bible as she continued eating. _Who actually reads that thing for leisure?_ He had known Serena since sophomore year and he still couldn't figure her out. Serena Thomas AKA Meatball Head was a nice girl, but almost too nice. She was obviously a Christian and she could probably talk about Jesus all day long if you let her. He couldn't deny how genuine she was; she practiced what she preached and even though it didn't make her popular Darien was secretly impressed that she stood by her convictions. Serena looked up, but Darien quickly diverted his eyes and caught the last part of his friends' conversation about the latest gossip. He hoped he wasn't staring too long at her or worse yet any of his friends caught him. The bell rang and it was time for him to go to his fourth block sociology class.

* * *

Darien entered his sociology class and took a seat in the back. He started to get settled in his seat and he happened to look up for a moment. He did a double take and cursed in his head when he saw Serena enter the classroom. _God, why?_ He thought as she took a seat near the front of the classroom. The final bell rang and the teacher came inside.

"Good afternoon, class," the teacher said as he wrote his name on the board. "My name is Mr. Peterson and I will be teaching you all about sociology this semester. You should have received a syllabus when you registered for this class and I hope you read it. I want to call your attention to the project we will be beginning work on today." Groans filled the room. "I know, I know. It's the first day of class and I'm already putting you to work. But I think that this will be a fun project. In a nutshell, sociology is the attempt to explain and understand the way that individuals and groups interact in society. This project will specifically focus on how individuals representing different people groups interact with each other. You all represent various people groups ethnically, economically, socially, religiously, etc.

"Based on those differences, you and one partner will be paired together and then work together to present a creative project to share all that you've learned about each other at the end of the year. The point is to understand how each individual makes a contribution to society and doing it with past classes has been a great experience for everyone involved. I will have assignments prepared for you each day that will aid you in your project as we cover various topics. I've already partnered everyone together purposefully so no changes will be allowed. I will go ahead and take roll by assigning everyone seats next to their partners. So everyone stand up and go to the back of the classroom. When I call your name, have a seat together."

Everyone gathered their belongings and moved to the back of the classroom using the time they had to socialize with their classmates. Darien tried not to make eye contact with Serena, but she saw him and was making her way towards him. "Hi, Darien," she said happily.

Darien purposefully ignored her and took out his cell phone pretending to text someone. From the corner of his eye, he saw her leave to find someone else to talk to. He smirked just as his phone vibrated for real. He opened his phone and saw a message from Andrew. _I'm dying_ he wrote.

Darien wrote him back. _If you were dying you wouldn't be texting me. What are you up to?_

_I'm dying a slow boring death in AP History_ Andrew wrote back. _Why am I taking this class?_

_For the same reason you made me take this stupid class. :P Guess who's in my class?_

Darien just sent the message and then his phone was snatched from him. He looked up and saw Mr. Peterson holding his phone hostage. "First and only warning Mr. Shields: put the phone away or it's mine." He handed the phone back to him and Darien put it in his pocket. "Your partner is Serena Thomas. Have a seat and enjoy your partnership."

More curses filled Darien's mind. _Seriously?_ He groaned and slowly sat down next to Serena in the middle of the classroom. _I knew taking this class was a bad idea_.

"Did I miss anyone?" Mr. Peterson asked. No one answered. "Good. I want you and your partner to complete this introductory worksheet and turn it in at the end of class. I'll give you an automatic F if you try to turn in sloppy work so make an effort, people. Does anyone have any questions?" When no one answered he began passing out the worksheets.

"This might actually be fun," Serena said as Mr. Peterson gave her two worksheets. She handed one to Darien.

"Yeah," Darien said sarcastically. "We're gonna have a blast."

"Number one," Serena read as she ignored his attitude. "'What are the first three words that come to mind when you think about your partner?' That's easy. I'd say strong, intelligent, and mysterious. What about you?"

_Something I can't say out loud_ he thought with a smirk on his face. "The first three words that come to my mind are religious, weird, and fanatical."

"Thank you," Serena said as she made notes.

Darien raised an eyebrow at her. "Those weren't compliments. Why are you thanking me?" he asked skeptically.

"Oh, I was saying thank you for answering the question," she replied. "Force of habit."

Darien rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long year. "Next question: 'list three things about your partner that you didn't know before.' Ok, surprise me, Meatball Head."

She sighed. "Darien, I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop with the Meatball references," she said seriously. "I wanna try to get along with you and it's hard to do that when you keep calling me names."

Darien shrugged. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

Serena smiled. "Thank you. So three things you didn't know about me. I love to sing, my middle name is Adeline, and I went to South America this summer."

_Why didn't you stay? _Darien thought. "What were you doing in South America?"

"I went on a mission trip with some friends from church," Serena explained excitedly. "It changed my life. We got to help this organization called Orphan Helpers and I absolutely loved it. I hope to go back because it was such an amazing experience."

Darien winced when he heard about Serena's plans for the future. He couldn't believe how close it was hitting to home. He tried to relax before Serena noticed something was wrong and focused on how he was going to answer the question at hand. "Three things…" he muttered pretending to read the worksheet again. "I play a little bit of guitar, I'm a brown belt in karate, and my favorite color is black."

"Wow," Serena said in awe. "How long have you been doing karate?"

"Long enough to get a brown belt," he said shortly.

Serena took the hint and sighed. "Number three: 'Family can play a major role in developing individuals' social standard. Spend a little time discussing your partner's family background.'" Serena looked up and noticed Darien sitting there with a blank look on his face. "Are you ok, Darien?"

"Just answer the question," Darien said stiffly. He hoped that making Serena talk would buy him more time to think about what he wanted to say.

Serena looked at him for a moment as he looked down. "Ok. I live with my parents and my brother, Sammy. My dad is a magazine editor and my mom is a homemaker. Sammy is 14 and he's a typical brother who gets on my last nerve, but I still love him very much. I also have a kitten named Luna." Serena stopped when she noticed that Darien wasn't writing anything down. "Darien, did you hear me?"

"Uh huh," he said absentmindedly. "Kitten named Luna."

"Darien, are you ok?" she asked with concern.

"I'm fine," he said quickly as he took some notes. "Is that all?"

Serena wasn't convinced. His tone of voice said it all. "Yeah, that's about it," she said. "What about your family?"

Darien sighed. He just wasn't sure how he was going to explain this when her family sounded so nice and perfect. He continued staring at his worksheet debating in his mind what he was going to say. "I don't have a family," he finally said without looking at her.

"What do you mean?"

He looked up and rolled his eyes at her. "What part of 'I don't have a family' don't you understand?"

Silence fell between them. "Do you mind me asking what happened to them?" Serena finally asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"I understand…"

"Do you really?" Darien interrupted accusingly. One of his pet peeves was when people said they understood what he had been through when they really had no clue. "People like you piss me off. I don't need your pity."

Serena looked like she wanted to say something else, but decided against it. "I didn't mean to upset you," she said calmly. "But that doesn't give you the right to be so rude to me."

Darien took a deep breath to keep his anger in check. "Yeah sorry," he said dismissively.

Serena didn't believe him, but she moved on anyway. "Number four: 'what do you hope to gain from this experience?'" Serena looked up at Darien. He was playing with his pen distractedly and wouldn't look at her. "I hope to gain a friendship," she answered. "I'm really excited to get to know you better, Darien."

Darien finally looked at her and was met with a smile. He didn't get how she could sit there and smile when he had just gone off on her moments ago. He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I guess I want the same thing in a way," he said. "I'm not saying we're gonna be best friends or anything, but even though I'd much rather be partnered with someone else something about getting to know people beyond the surface interests me. Getting to know you will be an interesting experience to say the least."

Serena turned in the worksheets and sat back down. "There's only a few minutes of class left. Do you have any ideas for the creative part of this project yet?"

"Nope," he said shortly.

"I don't either. I just thought I'd ask." Darien just stared off into space. She was sad to see that all the pain he was trying to cover up and wished that there was something she could do to help. "I'll be praying for you."

Darien gave her a look. "Why bother?" The bell rang and Darien got up and left before she had a chance to say anything else to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Serena sighed as she watched Darien leave like there was a fire in the building. _This is going to be a long school year_ she thought to herself as she went to her locker. She collected the books she needed for homework and started writing a note on a blank page in one of her notebooks. "Hi Serena," a boy said next to her.

Serena turned and smiled at her brother. "Hey Sammy. How was your first day?" She continued writing her note.

Sammy sighed. "It was so boring. All my teachers are boring, but at least Dean is in most of my classes." He noticed the note she was writing. "What are ya doing?" he asked as he tried to look over her shoulder.

Serena folded up the note up and put it in a small Bible before closing her locker. "I wrote a note for someone," she explained. "I'm gonna give it to him next time I see him."

"Him?" Sammy said curiously as they walked out of the school. "Sounds like you have a boyfriend. Wait until I tell dad! He's gonna kill you."

"I don't have a boyfriend," Serena protested. They continued on their way home playfully arguing with one another. For the most part Serena always got along with her brother and she was thankful for the relationship they had. "Do you wanna get some ice cream before we go home?" she asked as they approached the Crown Parlor.

"Yeah!" Sammy yelled causing Serena to laugh. They went inside and it was full of kids from their school. The Crown was the local hangout spot famous for its dual arcade and snack center. They waited in line and Serena caught sight of Darien sitting in a booth with his friends. "Here," she told Sammy as she gave him some money. "I'll be right back. Get me a small Strawberry Delight if I take too long." She made a beeline towards Darien's table with the Bible and the note in her hands. _Lord, give me strength._

Darien looked up and frowned when he saw Serena come in with a younger boy with brown hair. _Is she stalking me?_ He turned his attention back to his friends and pretended not to see her. "What's got your underwear in a bunch?" Andrew was asking him.

"It's not important," he replied. "It's just that I was already assigned a project with a partner in my sociology class."

"Ugh," Chad said. "I hate group work."

"Me too," Beryl said.

"So who's your partner?" Rae asked.

Darien sighed. "Let's just say it's gonna be a long year."

"It's Melvin Carpenter isn't it?" Mina asked.

"Worse," Darien muttered. He looked up again and saw Serena coming towards him. _Oh, God no!_

"Hi Darien," Serena said cheerfully. "Hi everyone. How are you today?"

They just remained silent and stared at her. "What do you want, Meatball Head?" Darien said agitatedly.

"I wanted to ask you something before you left. Since we're partners for the project, do you think you can come over to my house sometime? We can get to know each other better and my mom would love to have you for dinner."

"Dinner," Chad snickered nudging Darien in the shoulder. Everyone except Darien laughed.

"I'll be busy," Darien said shortly.

"Well, maybe some other time when you're not busy," Serena said. "I also wanted to give this to you." She handed him a small Bible. "There's a note in there for you with my number just in case you need me."

Darien rolled his eyes. "Why couldn't you just give me your number like a normal person?"

"I wanted you to have it for reference just in case you wanted to know more about Christianity."

"Well I hope that's not a love note," Beryl said before Darien could respond. She started rubbing his arm. "Trying to flirt with my boyfriend isn't going to make him like you." She scoffed. "No one in their right mind would bother with a freak so get lost."

Darien yanked his arm away from Beryl. "You're not my girlfriend," he muttered. He caught sight of Serena's face and she looked genuinely hurt.

"Serena," the brown haired boy said appearing beside her. "I got your ice cream. Are you ready to go?" He stared at her for a moment. "What's wrong?"

"Aww," Chad said. "She already has a little boyfriend running errands for her."

"Why would I ever date my sister?" the boy asked innocently. "That's gross!"

"Of course you wouldn't date her, honey," Beryl said. "No one would."

He glared at her. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? You can't talk about my sister like that!"

"That's enough, Sammy," Serena said shakily pulling him along. "Let's go."

"But I wasn't done," Sammy said as he was pulled away by Serena. They all laughed at her as the two of them left.

"I'm sorry man," Andrew said after calming down. "Dealing with her all year is going to be a living hell."

"I know," Darien said flatly. He caught sight of Serena out the window with her brother outside and she looked really upset even as he tried to cheer her up. It was weird because she was usually able to ignore the insults hurled at her with a smile on her face, but she wasn't smiling and he actually felt bad for her. "You guys didn't have to give her such a hard time. I was fully capable of handling my own battle with her."

"Aww," Mina cooed. "You're defending her now. That's so sweet."

"No I'm not," Darien said sternly. "I'm just saying I can take care of myself."

"Don't forget about having dinner with her and her family," Chad said causing the group to laugh again.

"Shut up, Chad," Darien said.

"Lighten up, Darien," Beryl said. "You know we're just playing around. I was simply trying to help."

He gave her a look. "I don't need _your_ help. Can't we just drop it and leave me alone?" They continued laughing and Darien had enough. "I'm leaving," he said as he stood and left. He started walking home and felt someone's presence behind him. "What? You haven't had enough yet?" he asked.

"Come on, Darien," Andrew said. "Learn to take a joke every once in a while."

"How would you feel if everyone knew about your lucky pet turtle?" Darien asked with a smirk.

"Hey! Kamekichi is special," he said in alarm. "Mina doesn't even know about him. You didn't tell anyone did you?"

"Of course not, but do you see my point?"

"I guess," he said with a sigh as they sat on a bench together. "It can't be much fun being stuck with Meatball Head all year, huh?"

"It's gonna suck and I don't need you all rubbing it in. I just wanna graduate and get out of here forever."

"Maybe it won't be as bad as you think. She is nice..."

"Too nice… I can't stand it. She gave me a freaking Bible with her phone number in it. Who does that?"

Andrew shrugged. "Didn't she say she wrote you a note? Let's see it."

Darien opened the Bible. He flipped a few pages and found Serena's handwritten note. "Darien," he read aloud. "I'm glad you're my partner this year. I know you don't like me very much, but I hope we can try to be friends. I've highlighted some verses for you to read whenever you have the time… let me know if you have any questions. Call me anytime you need me (555.5987). How sweet," Darien said as he punched her number into his contacts on his phone. "I definitely won't be reading that thing anytime soon."

"Well maybe you can use it to research her people," Andrew said.

"Maybe," Darien replied.

Andrew checked his watch. "I gotta get ready for work soon. I'll see you later."

"See ya," Darien said. He continued walking home to his apartment and went inside slamming his door shut. He made himself some coffee and sat on the couch thinking about everything, mostly about his interaction with Serena. He hated that he was stuck working with her all year because the last thing he needed was to have God shoved down his throat all the time. As far as he was concerned God could care less about him because of all the things he had been through in his life. Darien sighed. He didn't have time to think about such things because he had other homework he needed to do.

* * *

Serena came in the house with Sammy and sighed. "Hi mom," she said as she passed the kitchen and headed upstairs to her room. She plopped onto her bed and curled into a ball. She was still upset about the way Darien treated her and what Beryl said to her at the Crown. She caught sight of the faded pink WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelet on her wrist and sighed. She knew Jesus would want her to continue showing them love and kindness, but right now she didn't really want to. She heard a knock at the door.

"Hi honey," her mother, Irene said. Serena turned over and found her standing by her door. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Serena muttered.

Irene sat beside her on the bed. "Serena," she said more sternly.

Serena sat up beside her. "Please don't pretend like Sammy didn't tell you already," she replied. "It's just the same old thing. I'm a freak and no one likes me."

"You're not a freak, honey. You have a family who adores you and lots of friends…"

"That doesn't stop people at school from making fun of me," she interrupted. "I hate it."

"You just have to ignore them, sweetie."

"Well that's gonna be kind of difficult considering one of my greatest tormentors is my partner for sociology class all year. He hates me."

"You don't know that. Knowing you you'll probably end up being the best of friends."

"I doubt it. He's obnoxious and hateful, just like the rest of his friends."

"That's not a very Christ-like thing to say, Serena."

"But it's true! I try to be nice to him and he always has something negative to say or ends up calling me names."

"It doesn't matter. You are a child of God and you're called to a higher standard. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you."

"I know, mom," Serena said agitatedly.

"I know you know, but are you gonna do it?"

Serena sighed. She hated when her mother asked her those kinds of questions, especially when she knew she was right. "Eventually," she finally said. "I have to if I'm gonna be stuck with Darien all year."

"You're not stuck with Darien. God placed you two together for a purpose and now you have to decide if you're gonna use this opportunity or abuse it. You never know how much you could change his life by being kind."

"Yeah," Serena said. Her kitten Luna ran into the room and jumped onto her bed. Serena picked her up and pet her absentmindedly thinking about all her mother just said.

Irene stood up. "I was going to bake some cookies, but it looks like you and your brother already had a snack," she said. "Sammy was nice enough to put your ice cream in the freezer for you, but you'd better come downstairs before he decides to eat it."

Serena smiled. "Thank you, mom." Her mother smiled before leaving the room. "You don't think I'm a freak, right Luna?" she asked her kitten. She replied with a small meow. She let Luna go and bowed her head with a sigh. "God," she prayed. "This is gonna be a hard school year. Please give me strength to move forward. Please watch over Darien. I don't know what his problem is, but you know all his needs and I pray you would help him through it. Please also watch over Beryl and their other friends. And help me to use this project as a great opportunity to gain a friend. Please help me to remember that with you I am pressed but not crushed, perplexed but not despaired, persecuted but not abandoned. Amen." She got up and headed downstairs to eat her ice cream.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ****Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews so far! I'm thinking this will be 14 chapters and ****I can't wait to get this story finished. Unfortunately I have a lot going on in real life so please be patient with me and ****I'll try to post when I can. Enjoy the next chapter!**

A few weeks passed and every day was about the same. Darien would try to avoid Serena outside of class as much as possible and his friends made a point to make a joke about it at least once a day. Today was a different day and Darien wasn't in the mood to face anyone, but he forced himself to go to school anyway. In the cafeteria during lunch hour he was in a daze picking at his food hardly paying attention to what was going on around him. He couldn't get the dream from the night before out of his mind.

* * *

_He was a little boy in the bed completely covered by race car bed sheets. "Darien," a woman's voice said sweetly as she tapped him on the shoulder. "Darien, honey it's time to get up."_

"_I don't wanna," young Darien said as he covered his head with a pillow._

_The woman gently uncovered him. "I know it's an adjustment, but you have to get ready for school."_

_Darien sat up and crossed his arms. "But I don't wanna go to school. Can't I just stay home with you?"_

_She sighed as she cupped his tiny face with one of her hands. When he looked up at her it was almost like looking into a mirror because she had the same black hair and the same face including the cobalt eyes that were so unique to him. She was very beautiful and when he looked into her eyes he saw the same love and warmth she was caressing his face with. "I wish it were that easy, but you have to go. Don't you wanna learn to read and write and make friends so you can grow up nice and smart?"_

"_Like me?" a man said as he came into the bedroom trying to fix his tie. He was tall and had a similar build to Darien only he had brown hair and hazel eyes. "Why isn't my little man out of bed yet?"_

_The woman smiled and stood to greet the man with a kiss before proceeding to fix his tie. "Your little man would rather stay home with me instead of going to school."_

_After the woman finished with his tie, the man turned to face Darien with a stern look on his face. Darien was afraid he was in trouble, but his fears quickly diminished as the man lifted him up and made them bounce on the bed together. He laughed as the couple smiled at him. "You don't wanna stay home with your mother all day," the man said._

"_Why not?"_

"_If boys like you stay home all day, then you'll just be a bump on the log." He ruffled Darien's hair. "You don't want that, do you?"_

"_No," Darien drew out. "I wanna grow up to be smart like you."_

"_And you will if you go to school instead of being a bump on a log. Besides if you stay home all day you'll get bored because your mother has work to do here too. Who will you play with? Who will make your food? It'll be a disaster."_

"_Ok, ok. I'll go to school." _

"_That's my boy! You ready to get dressed now, Darien? Darien? Darien?"_

* * *

"Darien? Earth to Darien?" Chad said as he waved a hand in his face. "Is anyone home?"

"Huh? What did you say?"

"You would know if you didn't keep spacing out," Rae said with a huff.

"What's your problem?" Mina asked. "You haven't been listening to us all day."

"If you take a walk with me, I can make you listen," Beryl suggested.

Darien rolled his eyes and walked outside to the courtyard. He took a seat on the stone bench and it wasn't long before he felt someone else's presence with him. "Leave me alone," he said agitatedly as Andrew took a seat beside him.

"We're worried about you, man. I just wanna make sure you're all right."

"Does it look like I'm all right?" Darien asked as he turned away from him. He appreciated what his friend was trying to do for him, but he really wanted to be alone at the moment. "I just want the day to end."

"I understand…"

"No you don't! You can't possibly understand anything!" He saw the hurt look Andrew had on his face and sighed. "Sorry Drew, I just… I just need some time to myself, ok?"

Andrew knew how hard this day was for Darien and should have been used to his irritability by now and he hated that he wouldn't let him help. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Darien just remained silent. "Well, if you need me you know where to find me." He waited a moment longer before he sighed and left Darien to himself.

_One more class_ Darien thought. _As long as Meatball Head doesn't bother me I'll be fine._ After a while the bell rang and Darien walked quietly to his Sociology class. He eventually felt Serena's presence beside him, but ignored her as he stared at his desk.

"Hi Darien," she said cheerfully as usual. "How are you today?"

"Fine," he said quietly without looking at her. He felt her eyes on him and looked up at her. "What are you staring at?"

"You aren't yourself today," she said with concern. "Is everything ok?"

Darien looked at her for a moment. Sometimes it was uncanny how perceptive she was, but he certainly didn't feel like telling her his life story. "Is being nosy one of the Ten Commandments or something? I said I'm fine." Serena just frowned and sighed as she took out her books.

"Good afternoon class," Mr. Peterson said after the bell rang. "We have a lot to cover in a little time. Today we're talking about families. I found a recent article comparing the outcomes of children from biological families and children from adopted families. Before I read it, I want to hear your thoughts. How do you think family relationships impact sociological outcomes?" Darien rolled his eyes and tried to zone out of the discussion, but it wasn't working.

"What about the kids who get abandoned or the kids who don't ever get adopted?" a student eventually asked.

"They're screwed," a class clown said causing most of the class to laugh.

"That's not true," Serena said defensively. "Everyone has an equal chance to live a good life despite the circumstances surrounding them. You can't make generalizations based on statistics." If Darien didn't know better he would have thought she had personal experience. But then again she did say she spent time with orphans in South America this summer.

Either way Darien couldn't take anymore and needed to get out of there fast. He raised his hand and waited to be acknowledged. "Can I go to the restroom?" he asked.

Mr. Peterson nodded and continued the discussion as Darien rushed to the nearest restroom. He took a seat in a stall and took deep breaths while squeezing his eyes shut. He felt a headache coming on and started rubbing his temples to numb the pain and to block out the various flashbacks entering his mind.

_Eight year old Darien was sitting in a hospital bed drawing a picture, but he could clearly hear his doctor talking to one of the nurses outside of his room. __He knew he was talking about him from the way he was trying to whisper. __"He's screwed," the doctor was saying. "I've never seen such a case in all my life. It'll be a miracle if he ever remembers anything, but I highly doubt it." He sighed. "That boy is going to be a piece of work."_

* * *

_Ten year old Darien ran into his room after a case worker finished her visit. He heard footsteps passing his room and the voices of his current foster parents. "I'm glad that's over," the woman said. "I'm sick of her breathing down our necks."_

"_I told you we shouldn't have taken him in," the man replied. "He's more trouble than he's worth."_

"_Well the lady said they finally have another placement source, but they'll probably throw him out too. He's a nightmare and I can't believe they won't give us extra money because of all the mental distress _we've _been under."_

"_Give it time and he'll be out of our hair for good."_

* * *

_One Christmas Darien was surrounded by older "brothers" in the group home who were known to bully him. "Give it back," Darien was saying to the kid who took his toy truck. He kept reaching for it, but the other boy was much taller and kept pulling it farther and farther from his reach. When Darien tried to jump to reach it he missed and fell on the ground. The other boys just laughed at him._

"_You already got a truck like this for Christmas last year, remember?" the boy said. "Oh that's right, you have amnesia and can't remember anything." The boys continued to laugh at him as they ran off. "Freak."_

* * *

Darien shook his head and focused on clearing his mind. He continued taking deep breaths to prevent himself from hyperventilating and after a few minutes he finally felt relaxed. He came out of the stall and sighed as he took a good look at himself in the mirror. His face was flushed and he looked as exhausted as he felt. He could have gone to the nurse's office and came up with an excuse to leave early, but then he would have to explain to the apartment supervisor why he was home early and risk an emergency session with another psychologist. There was only an hour left anyway so Darien willed himself to stick it out. He took a deep breath and finally headed back to class.

* * *

Serena was doing her best to pay attention to what was going on in class, but she couldn't concentrate because she was worried about Darien. She saw the way his body tensed when Mr. Peterson started the class discussion and he still hadn't returned from the breathed a sigh of relief when Darien finally came back, but she immediately noticed that something was off. He looked worse than before and seemed defeated as he sat staring blankly at his desk. After an hour more of lecturing the final bell rang. Serena gathered her things as other students exited the classroom and noticed that Darien was still seated. "Darien," she said gently touching his arm. He jumped a bit before looking at her. "Didn't you hear the bell? School's over."

"Oh," Darien said quietly as he started to gather his things. "What's for homework? I missed it."

"We have to read the next chapter and then turn in a progress report about our project by the end of the week. Mr. Peterson wants us narrow down ideas for the creative piece."

"Oh ok. You can go ahead and pick what we do, Serena. I don't really care."

"Well we have until the end of the week to decide and I want your input too."

"I'll think about it," he said absently as he zipped his backpack.

Serena watched sadly as Darien stood up and left the classroom. She sighed and prayed silently. _Lord, give me the words._ She hurried to catch up with him. "Darien wait," she said as she grabbed his arm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "I told you I'm fine."

"No you're not. It's written all over your face. Do you wanna talk about it?"

She waited for an answer until he finally shook his head. "Not really."

Serena frowned. She heard the sadness in his voice and it was enough to break her heart. She remembered the first day of class when he said he didn't have a family and realized that was probably the problem. "Well why don't you take a walk with me to clear your head for a bit?" she finally suggested. "I know a perfect thinking spot I can take you to. The fresh air and a change of scenery might help."

Darien struggled for an answer. The last thing he wanted to do was take a walk with Serena because she would probably end up talking his ear off and spew Bible verses at him. He was about to decline until he looked into her eyes and saw genuine concern. Suddenly taking a walk to clear his head sounded appealing and something in his heart told him it would be worth it. He finally nodded. "Ok."

"Good. I just need to let my brother know what I'm doing." One of the things that irked Darien about Serena was her ability to be so nice that it was annoying. He and his friends would pinpoint it and make fun of her for being "little miss perfect," but right now her kindness seemed to be the very thing he needed most. "He's walking home with a friend," Serena said stealing him from his thoughts. "Do you need anything from your locker?" Darien shook his head no. "Then I guess we can get going."

Darien nodded and walked out of the school with her. He appreciated she wasn't chattering aimlessly as he expected her to while they walked together. It gave him time to sort through everything that was running through his mind. After a while he realized Serena stopped walking and they were now standing in a rose garden. "Where are we?"

"We're in an alcove near the park," Serena said as she took a seat on a bench. "I found it on accident one day. Isn't it beautiful?" She motioned for him to sit beside her.

"It is," Darien replied as he sat next to her.

"I've kind of made this my unofficial prayer garden since no one else really comes here," Serena explained. "I invite people here so I can pray with them or sometimes I come here by myself to have some quiet time. It helps me relax and I hope it helps you. Is it ok if I pray for you before I leave?" Darien shrugged. If it prevented him from talking to her and made her go away then he was all for it. Serena bowed her head and closed her eyes after placing a hand on his back and he awkwardly bowed his head too.

"Dear God," she started to pray. "Thank you for such a beautiful day and thank you for Darien. Please take care of him for me. He seems to be having a hard time today and even though I don't know exactly what's bothering him I know that you know all of his needs. Please let him know that you are there for him and bring comfort and peace for whatever hurt or pain he's feeling. Cover him with extra love right now. Amen." Serena looked up and found Darien holding his head in his hands. She gently hugged him and patted his leg reassuringly. "Call me if you need someone to talk to," she said softly. She started to get up until she felt something wet fall on her hand. She heard a soft whimpering noise and realized he was crying. "Darien, it's ok." She started rubbing his back soothingly as he continued to cry. She didn't know what else to do so she just held him and continued her rubbing motions as she prayed silently for him.

It had been many years since Darien actually let himself cry. He spent so many years trying to be strong and worked hard to keep his emotions under control for the sake of never appearing weak. No one else seemed to care about him and he tried to act like he didn't care either, but deep down he couldn't deny the truth. Serena's prayer overwhelmed him and seemed to break down every wall he tried to build up inside. It had been a very long time since anyone showed him any compassion and having her there just holding him showing him the love he was lacking made him emotional as he let out all the stresses and hurts he bottled over the years. He finally wiped his eyes and looked up at her when he finished crying. "Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked.

"Everyone deserves love," Serena said gently.

"But I don't deserve it. There has to be a catch." He scoffed. "Is this your good deed of the day to get another notch in your Christian belt?"

"No," Serena said seriously. "I mean my faith is a part of it, but I really do care about you and I want to be a friend. I really do."

Darien thought about it. Even though the last place he wanted to be was with her, he had to give Serena credit for not giving up on him. If she didn't care then she wouldn't be wasting her time with him. "I guess I can accept that," he finally said. "Today just sucks."

"The family discussion in class probably didn't help, did it?"

"Not at all," he replied with a sigh. "My parents and I were involved in a car accident 9 years ago today. I was the only survivor."

Serena put two and two together as she took in the new piece of information and a solemn look graced her face. "Oh Darien," she said quietly.

"That's not even the worst part. I have permanent amnesia because of all the head injuries I sustained. I can't remember anything before the accident and I also have memory lapses from time to time."

"So you don't even remember your parents?" Serena asked sadly.

Darien shook his head no. "Sometimes I think I have lost memories that appear in my dreams, but there's no telling if they're real memories or something I imagined and I'll never know. All I have to go on is an old picture of the three of us together that was found in my hands on the day of the accident. No one could identify any relatives I could live with so after I recovered from my physical injuries, I bounced from home to home in foster care until I was finally sent to a group home when I was 12. No one wanted to adopt me and the only reason anyone ever took me in was to get the stipend money. I didn't do well in the group home either so I requested emancipation and moved out into transitional housing when I turned 16."

He paused for a moment. "Sometimes I wonder if the crash was my fault and if all the hell I've been through was payback for causing my parents' death. Sometimes I wonder why I just didn't die too. Most days I'm just lost trying to survive day by day." He sighed again. He didn't intend to tell her that much, but once he started he couldn't stop.

"You shouldn't ever think like that, Darien," Serena said after a while. "It's not your fault…"

"I know it's not my fault," he interrupted. "Do you know how many therapists and counselors and doctors have told me that already? I'm not in the mood to hear another lecture from you or to hear you tell me it was part of God's plan."

"I know that," Serena said calmly. "I do believe that God has a purpose for everything, but all I wanted to say is that you shouldn't carry that burden on your shoulders like that. Believe me, I understand."

"No you don't. Look, I know you're trying to help, but the worst thing you could do is say that you understand and pretend you know how I feel."

Serena sighed. "I do understand because my birth parents are dead too." Darien looked up at her seriously. "I was told three years ago when I was working on a big family tree project. The parents I live with are actually my aunt and uncle. The short version of the story is that I was conceived after a one night stand. Apparently she suffered from post partum depression really badly and got addicted to her medication so she left me with my aunt and uncle under the impression that it was going to be a temporary arrangement. She was supposed to get treatment for her drug addiction and make things right with my alleged father, but she never came back. They didn't hear from her until they got the word that she died from a drug overdose right before Sammy was born when I turned 3. That was when they officially adopted me."

"Wow," Darien said. "I never would have guessed."

Serena nodded sadly. "I remember the day they told me and all the emotions that came with it. I'm so grateful to have a family who loves me, but there are still times when I still feel rejected, sad, angry, confused, and a mix of other things I can't always put into words. Knowing that my mother basically abandoned me, knowing that my parents adopted me because it seemed like they had to, survivor's guilt… all of it made me so upset that it nearly destroyed me. I had some time to make my peace with it and I still have the love and support from my family and friends, but sometimes in the back of my mind I wonder. I wonder if my mother ever loved me. Even though they tell me otherwise, I wonder if my parents regret being forced to take me in. It's a constant struggle and it's hard for anyone else to really understand. I can't say I know exactly what you're going through, but I can relate."

Darien still couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought she had the perfect life, but it turned out things weren't all they appeared. She completely understood him and hit the nail on the head with all the feelings he had throughout his life. "I'm sorry," he added awkwardly.

"Don't be," Serena said with a sad smile. "I mean I hate that it had to happen that way, but my point is to let you know that I do understand your pain and even though it's difficult there is hope. The past has left a lot of scars that can't be changed, but in the end you can be a much stronger person as long as you don't allow yourself to be defined by the hurts. You have a purpose in this life and I can see what a strong person you are. I definitely have a new respect for you, Darien."

Darien thought about what she just said. He had never heard anyone say anything like that to him before. Everyone else would dismiss his story trying to sweep it away telling him to get over it or would pity him as though he were completely hopeless, but Serena was kind and compassionate enough to show him how he could use his pain as a strength instead of a weakness. She was the only one he knew of who could identify with him and if she could have hope then maybe he could too. "You really believe all that?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation.

"Even after all the crap I've put you through?"

"It's not always easy, but I choose to believe the best about you anyway. We're all a work in progress and there's always room to grow."

Darien shook his head. He was still having a hard time believing that the one person he judged the most was the least judgmental of all and had the most in common with him. For now it was enough for him. "Thank you, Serena," he finally said.

Serena smiled at him. "I'm gonna get going and let you have some time to yourself. Are you gonna be ok?"

"I will be," he said honestly. "Really… thanks for everything."

She gave him another hug. "If you get lonely and need someone to talk to feel free to call me, ok?" Darien nodded. Serena stood up and waved at him before heading out of the rose garden. She sighed and said another prayer for him as she walked home. She didn't tell many people her adoption story because she didn't want to give anyone another reason to make fun of her, but she was glad she shared it with Darien. Something seemed to be changing in him and she hoped her influence gave him enough strength to move forward.

**A/N: Hope you liked it. Stay tuned for chapter 4 and beyond.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks again for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! Enjoy the next chapter!**

On Saturday, Darien came to the Crown to hang out with Andrew for a little bit while he was working. He took a seat at the counter and was immediately met with a hot cup of black coffee. "Thanks, man."

Andrew made a face as Darien drank his coffee. "I'll never understand how you can drink that stuff straight. It's disgusting."

"It's soothing," Darien corrected before taking a big drink. "So what's up?"

"Not much. It's just another typical Saturday and I'd rather be in bed sleeping. Everything ok with you?"

"Yeah," he said honestly knowing exactly what he was referring to. "Taking a walk in the fresh air to clear my head before I went home did the trick."

"So is that where you disappeared to after school yesterday? I was getting worried when you didn't answer my texts or phone calls."

"Yeah, it was actually Serena's idea. Sorry I didn't get back to you right away."

"So it's true then," Andrew muttered.

"What's true?"

"Beryl said she saw you leaving with her after school."

"Yeah… and?"

"She was 'concerned' about people getting the wrong idea."

Darien rolled his eyes. The only thing Beryl was concerned about was whether or not he was getting back together with her. "Well Serena and I are partners for that stupid project so yeah there's gonna be times when we have to be seen together. Yesterday was mostly her talking about some ideas we had while we walked to the park. She finally left and I had some time to myself which was nice because I really wasn't feeling it." He hoped that Andrew would buy it and not pry for once. It wasn't a complete lie, but if worse came to worse he could easily cover his tracks. "I know we give her a hard time, but she's actually kind of ok."

"Uh-oh, is her Jesus stuff rubbing off on you?"

"No. I've made it perfectly clear that I don't believe in that stuff. She still talks about it because it's a part of who she is, but she doesn't push it on me."

"Well power to you for putting up with her. I wouldn't be able to do it. Anyway, are you coming tomorrow?"

Darien looked at him with confusion. "What's tomorrow?"

"My birthday party! Oh that's right, you weren't there when we were talking about it and apparently you didn't read your text messages. We pushed the party to tomorrow night since a lot of people said they were busy today. I know Sunday night is lame, but my parents said they were going on a spontaneous day trip and won't be back until Monday morning so that means more partying for us. Does that work for you?"

"That works even better. I have karate practice later and I picked up an extra shift tonight so I'll be free all day tomorrow."

"Perfect! Mina is handling all of the entertainment so it's gonna be lots of fun."

"I wouldn't miss it."

"I'm glad you're coming. It'll be nice to see you let loose and have fun instead of being buried in the books… AGAIN." Andrew looked past him and frowned. "Crap. Those stupid middle schoolers spilled orange soda all over the place. I'll be back."

"I actually have to get going. I'll see you later." He waved at him before walking out of the Crown back to his apartment. He started thinking about how good it would be to get out there and have some fun, especially after having such a rough time the day before. But for now he had some homework to finish before going to karate class. He turned a corner and accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh I'm sorry."

"It was my fault, I…" She looked up and smiled. "Oh hey Darien."

"Hi Serena," he replied. He noticed the boy next to her glaring at him. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh this is my brother Sammy. Sammy, this is my friend Darien."

Sammy continued glaring at him and Darien recognized him from the day Serena gave him the Bible in the Crown. "Is this the guy who made up that stupid nickname for you?" he asked crossly.

"He didn't make up that name," Serena said calmly. "Darien is my partner for our Sociology project."

"But he hangs with that group who always make fun of you." Sammy poked a finger in Darien's chest. "If you ever do anything to hurt my sister, I'll make you live to regret it."

"Sammy!" Serena said pulling him back.

Darien put his hands up. "It's ok."

"No, it's not ok." She rolled her eyes at her brother. "Sammy, you're being rude. Apologize to Darien right now."

Sammy shrugged out of her grasp and rolled his eyes at Darien. "Sorry," he said before pushing past him. "I'm not sorry. I'll meet you over there, Rena." He walked ahead of them without looking back.

"Samuel Elliott Thomas, get back here this instant!" Serena called after him. When he continued walking, Serena groaned. "Did he really just do that? I can't believe he just did that! Wait until I get my hands on him!"

Darien couldn't decide what was funnier. A freshman below his shoulders trying to threaten him or the fact that Serena was getting so upset about her brother's behavior. He never saw her get mad before and he almost couldn't take her seriously. "What are you gonna do? Whack him with the Bible?"

She turned to face him. "I really should! He knows better than that!" She frowned. "I'm really sorry about him, Darien. That was completely uncalled for and I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure if I had a sister I'd be the same way."

"I mean I get that he calls himself trying to protect me, but sometimes it's just downright annoying." She shook her head and sighed. "How are you feeling today? You look a lot better."

"I am a lot better. Thank you again for your help.

She smiled at him. "You're welcome. By the way, if you wanna come over to work on the project or even just to have dinner or something you're more than welcome to. Our door is always open."

"I appreciate it." He chuckled. "Sammy might not be too happy about that though."

"Well it's not his decision because he doesn't pay the bills. Mom and Dad have an open door policy and allow us to have people over all the time. They love having company."

"I'll keep that in mind."

She smiled at him. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go find that brother of mine before he gets himself into any more trouble. Enjoy the rest of your weekend."

"You too." She waved at him before hurrying off to catch up with her brother and Darien smiled. Serena was definitely one of a kind and he was starting find her little oddities endearing. He continued walking home unaware that Beryl was watching his interaction from a store window across the street.

* * *

Andrew's birthday party was fun for the most part, Darien decided. He caught up with lots of classmates he hadn't seen in a while and of course most of the girls were flirting shamelessly with him all night. Beryl was using every excuse possible to stay close to him, but he ignored her and continued to enjoy himself. At this point, most people had gone home and he, Chad, Rae, Beryl, Mina, and Andrew were involved in a game of Truth or Dare. "Well?" Beryl asked impatiently. "We don't have all night, Chad. I'll ask for the truth one more time. What are the names of all the girls you've been in bed with?" Chad shifted uncomfortably and mumbled an answer. "What's that? No one can hear you."

"I'm a virgin!" he shouted a little louder than necessary. Everyone laughed as he started turning red. "It's not funny!"

"Oh yes it is," Andrew said as he settled down. "Have you even gotten past first base?"

"Trust me, we've run circles around _second_ base," Rae replied as she fingered Chad's hair. "When the time is right we'll certainly score a home run."

Chad crossed his arms and blushed an even deeper shade of red. "You don't have to be embarrassed," Mina said. "It's only funny because you're overreacting."

Chad cleared his throat. "Moving right along… I pick Darien. Truth or dare?"

Darien thought for a moment. He definitely didn't feel like pouring out his heart and soul and risk the exposing 'hidden' truths about himself. The dares hadn't been too awful yet so he made his choice. "Dare," he finally said.

Chad tapped his chin in thought until a smile broke out on his face. "I dare you to sit with Meatball Head at lunch tomorrow."

Darien smirked. Easiest dare ever. He'd gotten used to sitting with Serena in class for an entire hour and a half each day so an hour at lunch would be nothing. "That's it?"

"Oh no, no, no. You have to sit with her, ask her on a date, then laugh in her face and tell her off in the most creative possible way you could imagine."

"No."

"Oh come on, Dar," Andrew taunted. "Are you scared you can't do it?"

"I'd have no problem doing it if we weren't partners for that project," he explained. "I don't want her to turn around and sabotage me when it's worth most of our grade in the class."

The group groaned. "Leave it to Darien to bring up schoolwork at a birthday party," Mina said.

"What if I give you $50 to do it?" Chad asked.

"I said no. Pick something else."

"Fine you chicken." Chad thought for a moment. "I dare you to kiss whoever the bottle lands on for a full 10 seconds." He picked up an empty soda bottle and put it in the middle of their circle. "Gender is irrelevant."

_Crap_. "Ok," Darien said with a sigh. He spun the bottle and held his breath to see who it would land on. The bottle started spinning fast and seemed to take forever to slow down. It finally slowed down near Andrew and then stopped on Beryl. Curses filled Darien's mind as everyone else cheered and whistled at him.

Darien gulped as Beryl came up to him. He closed his eyes and kissed her on the lips refusing to open his mouth just in case she tried anything. Ten seconds seemed to last for eternity; he felt Beryl's hands all over him but refused to give in and kept his hands to himself. He pulled away from her as soon as he counted to ten. "Aww," Beryl whined. "I was enjoying that."

Darien checked his watch. "I need to go," he announced. "It's getting late."

"I'll walk you out," Andrew offered as he stood up. "It could have been worse. You almost had to kiss me."

"And then face Mina's wrath because you liked it?" Andrew nudged him. "I had a lot of fun. Happy birthday, man."

"Thanks. Have a good night."

"Good night." Darien waved and began walking home. Kissing Beryl reminded him of what he had with her: nothing. He felt nothing whenever he kissed her back then and still felt nothing now. They were never able to develop true intimacy and he didn't want to waste their time running in circles when all she wanted was to get in bed with him. Darien sighed. He hoped that kiss didn't plant any false hope in her head, but if it came up he'd be sure to make it clear they were done for good and Beryl would just have to accept it.

* * *

On Monday as soon as Beryl got her lunch, she found a spot with her friends and immediately noticed that Darien was missing. "Where's Darien?" she asked.

"He's over there with Meatball Head," Mina said.

Beryl watched with growing jealousy as Darien was talking to Serena about something that made the both of them laugh. She had seen them together on Saturday through a window while she was at work and it made her angry. "Maybe he actually grew a pair and went through with the bet."

"He already said he wouldn't do it and would catch up with us later," Andrew said.

Mina sighed. "I still don't understand why he went to sit with her all of a sudden."

"Isn't it obvious?" Chad asked. "She snuck in there, did some Jedi mind trick, and made him fall in love with her."

Rae hit him on the arm. "I told you to stop watching Star Wars before you go to bed."

"It's not like he's completely abandoned us," Andrew said.

"I'll handle this," Beryl said as she stood up. She walked over to the table where Darien and Serena were sitting and took a seat next to Darien. "Good job, Darien," she said sweetly.

Serena looked confused and Darien gave her a look. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'm glad you decided to go through with that bet after all." She handed him a $20 bill.

"What bet?"

"Remember? It was right after our kiss. We were playing truth or dare and Chad dared you to sit with Meatball Head today. You sweetened the deal by putting some money on the line."

Serena looked hurt. "Is that true, Darien?"

"No! Well, yes we were playing Truth or Dare and they dared me to sit with you, but I refused to go through with it."

"Hmm, it's quite a coincidence that you chose today of all days to start sitting with me," Serena replied.

"It's not what you think."

"You don't have to deny it now," Beryl said. "The game's over and you won the money. Although you would have gotten more money if you actually laughed in her face."

"I'm glad I could be of service to you," Serena said sarcastically before standing up.

"Serena, she's lying."

"She's not lying about you playing the game, is she?"

"No, but…"

"That's what I thought. See you in class." She walked away and Darien started after her, but Beryl grabbed his arm.

"Just let her go," Beryl said.

Darien snatched his arm away looking at her angrily. "Why did you just do that?"

"I'm just trying to save you from committing social suicide, ok? She's just a freak and you'd be better off without her."

"And who are you to tell me what's best for me?"

She shrugged. "Since she's out of your hair why don't you come on back to the table where your real friends are?" Darien hesitated for a moment looking at the doors where Serena went out, but he sighed and followed Beryl to the other table. "Look who I brought with me," she said proudly. They all looked at her as if she grew another head. Beryl turned around and saw Darien exiting the cafeteria.

"So much for taking care of it," Mina said. "What'd you do to piss him off?" Beryl huffed and continued eating her lunch.

* * *

Darien diverted from following Beryl and went to find Serena before the bell rang. He found her in the courtyard eating the rest of her lunch by herself. "Serena, can we talk please?"

She glared at him. "What's there to talk about? You obviously don't really want to be around me unless you have to."

"Why do you think I'm out here with you now?"

"Because you feel guilty and you're trying to clear your conscience."

Darien was getting frustrated. "You're such a hypocrite!" he spat out. "What happened to looking for the good in everyone? Did your Jesus power suddenly run out?"

"Well at least I don't have to play games to stay on my friends' good side."

"This isn't a game! I told you Beryl was lying! I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you or anyone else. I guess you're too stupid and judgmental to realize that, right Crack Baby?" He felt his blood go cold when he saw the look on Serena's face after he said it and he knew he went too far. If looks could kill, he'd certainly be a dead man. "Serena… I…"

The bell interrupted him. Serena quietly gathered her things and stopped in front of him. She continued glaring at him and before he knew it she smacked him in the face. She hurried away before he had a chance to say anything else.

**a/n: To be continued... I might not be able to update for a bit because I'm trying to write a ton of final papers in the next 3 weeks, but I'll be back with more as soon as I can. Hope you're still enjoying it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n: Thanks as always for the favorites, reviews, and follows. Hope everyone had a good Easter. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but here goes.**

Darien shouted a curse and kicked a rock before heading back into the school nursing his burning cheek. Now he was angry. He tried to convince himself that he was angry at Beryl for getting him in this mess in the first place and that he was angry at Serena for provoking him, but he knew the truth. He was angry at himself for letting his temper get the best of him… again. Darien walked into the classroom and took a seat next to Serena who just glanced at him before concentrating on whatever she was writing. "Serena, we need to talk."

"You've said enough," she stated without looking at him.

Darien frowned. He heard the hurt in her voice and he could tell she was trying not to cry. He took out his notebook and other supplies just as the bell rang. "Good afternoon class," Mr. Peterson said. "Honestly I have a lot of work to catch up on so I'm not going to lecture today." Cheers filled the classroom. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but that doesn't let you off the hook." He started passing out worksheets. "You'll have 2 weeks to make a final decision about the assignment on this worksheet, but today I want you all to brainstorm. You don't have to complete it right away but make sure you turn it in at the end of class or you'll both get a 0 for the day. So consider this a semi-free period and use your time wisely. Just keep the noise to an appropriate level and we'll call it a day." He took a seat at his desk.

Darien skimmed the worksheet, but he pushed it aside and focused on Serena who was still reading the worksheet. "Would you care to go over this assignment now or later?" he asked her. Silence. He waited a while then rolled his eyes. "Oh the silent treatment. That's a bit childish, don't you think?" This time she cut her eyes at him before she shifted her body so that her back towards him. Darien rolled his eyes and turned away from her as he got out another textbook to begin homework for another class. As he worked she eventually turned around to face forward and he thought she was going to say something, but she just took out a book he assumed was for another class and resumed her position with her back towards him. Darien couldn't really concentrate and he thought it was ironic. Each class whenever Serena tried to make small talk with him he always wished she would just leave him alone but now that she was giving him the silent treatment he was miserable. She had been so kind to him all this time and today he just had to go and ruin everything. She had every right not to talk to him but they still had a project to work on and even more than that he found that he wanted to be on her good side again. And he wasn't going to do that by continually cutting her down.

"Serena, can I talk to you?" She responded by turning a page. "I guess I'll talk and you can just listen. But if you want me to shut up then let me know." He waited a moment. "I'm just frustrated with this whole thing. I tried to be the good guy and chose not to embarrass you, but then Beryl made stuff up and you believed her instead of me so I blew up and ended up being the bad guy. I mean I guess compared to you I am a bad guy but…" He sighed deeply. "I don't know. I'm not good at this sharing my feelings thing, but the point is that I'm sorry, Serena. I'm sorry for not controlling my anger and taking all my frustration out on you. I'm sorry for saying all those horrible things about you because I know none of it is true. You're not a hypocrite, you're not stupid, you're not a crack baby, and you're not childish. If anything I'm the childish one because I'm an as… er, a terrible person. I know I hurt you and I'm sure you hate me, but I hope you know that I really am sorry." He waited for her to say something, but when she turned away from him again he gave up and tried to go back to his work. He didn't know what else to do because it just seemed like all hope was lost.

"I'm sorry too," Serena said quietly.

Darien looked up but her back was still to him. He wasn't sure he heard her correctly because she spoke so softly. "What did you say?"

She slowly turned her chair forward. She had put her book away and was now looking at him sadly. "I said I'm sorry. I know I hurt you too."

"Serena, come on. If I were in your shoes I would have smacked me too. I was entirely out of line."

"That's not what I meant. I mean yes I'm sorry I smacked you and left that mark on your face, but I hurt you by not being a good friend. I should have listened to you instead of assuming the worst and I shouldn't have acted so rude to you." She looked down. "And I'm sorry for making you think I hate you. I hate what you said to me and I hate that you hurt me, but I don't hate you and I don't ever want you to think that."

Darien couldn't believe it. He was the one who messed up yet she managed to turn the tables and consider his feelings in all this. He didn't deserve it and somehow he still earned her kindness. "I still think you're justified, but it's nice to know you don't hate me. Does that mean we can move on?"

Serena seemed to think it over. "It'll take some time, but yes." She picked up her worksheet and read it over. "So it looks like we have to spend some time living in each other's shoes, ironically enough. We have to interact in an environment that's most representative of each other."

"So that means I have to go to church since your faith is so important to you," Darien stated.

"Not necessarily. But just in case I do have the perfect thing for you. Now you could come to church with me on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night, but we have a less formal event coming up. It's kind of like a benefit function with the arts and our focus is raising awareness about human trafficking. We're going to have special displays, featured artwork, music, and other things going on and it'll all be set up like a gallery. You can come and go as you please and if you feel led to donate to the cause that would be appreciated."

"That sounds interesting," Darien said thoughtfully. It certainly didn't sound like any kind of church service he was used to and even though he was not too fond of the church scene it sounded like something he would want to attend. "When is it?"

"It's next weekend and it'll be on that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night at 6pm." She opened her backpack to look for something and frowned when she didn't find it. "I must have left the flyers in my locker, but I can get it to you so you can have all the information just in case you decide you want to come."

"I'm not going to make a commitment just yet because I don't know my work schedule yet, but I promise to keep it in mind."

"Please don't think that's the only thing you have to do. I don't want you to feel obligated to come if you really don't want to. We could make it simple and you could just come over one night for dinner with my family or something."

"I don't know about that. If I decide to come over will I get hit again?"

Serena frowned. "Darien, I said I was sorry… I…"

"Serena, relax. I was just kidding. Do you think I can come over tonight? I just want to get it over with now so we don't have to worry about it later."

"Yeah that's fine."

"Ok," Darien said as he took notes. "My black belt karate tournament is coming up in a couple of weeks. Karate has helped me in a lot of ways and you're more than welcome to come to the tournament, but I don't know. It doesn't seem like you'd really get to interact with me in my environment if you're just watching."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. We can get creative since it seems like karate is so important to you." She took some notes. "Do you have any ideas about what we should do when we present?"

"Not really. I'd assume that Mr. Peterson wants us to incorporate something from each of these worksheets, but I'm not sure how." Darien shrugged. "We can always do a collage. It's hands on and we can add bits and pieces of the stuff we've been talking about."

"That's fine with me." The bell rang and they gathered their things.

Darien breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad he and Serena were on speaking terms again, but he did notice how guarded she sounded. He couldn't blame her. If he were in her shoes he'd make sure to proceed with caution too. "Should I follow you to your locker or do you want to come to mine," he asked.

"For what?"

"The flyer for that thing at your church you were talking about."

"Oh, I was just going to wait until you came over tonight, but if you want it now that's fine. I'll bring it to you."

Serena turned a corner while Darien continued walking. He got to his locker and took out all the books he needed for the evening before Andrew and Mina appeared. "Hey," he said.

Andrew was staring at him. "What happened to your face, dude?"

"Long story. Are Rae and Chad coming?"

"They're on their way," Mina replied. "Beryl got detention for texting in class, surprise, surprise. I swear that thing is attached to her hip."

"Please shoot me if I'm ever on my phone as much as she is," Andrew said.

Mina smiled at him. "You'll never have to worry about that as long as I'm around."

Darien rolled his eyes and zoned out of the flirtatious comments his friends kept making. They continued chattering aimlessly and he didn't pay attention to what they were saying until they suddenly stopped talking. Darien looked up from his locker and saw Serena standing there. He was about to speak up until Andrew beat him to it. "What do you want, Fruitcake?" Andrew asked.

"Hi Andrew, Mina," she replied. "I came here to see Darien."

"What, are you officially stalking him now?" Mina asked.

"No, I just have something I need to give him before I leave."

"Is it another Bible? Or is it a love letter this time?" Andrew asked before laughing. Mina giggled and Serena frowned.

Darien could see she was getting frustrated and he finally decided to step in. "Last time I checked neither of your names are Darien," he said before stepping in front of them. "Do you have the flyer?"

She looked relieved. "Everything you need to know is on there," she explained as she handed it to him. All the information was printed on a black piece of paper marked with a see through red X and the words 'End It' in bold letters at the top. "If any of you want to come you're all welcome too. We're raising awareness about human trafficking and all the donations we receive will go to organizations actively working to end it. I know you aren't into the church scene, but I thought I'd mention it anyway."

"Human trafficking?" Mina asked skeptically. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but we live in the 21st century and slavery is a thing of the past."

"I wish you were right," Serena replied. "The truth is that there are still approximately 27 million people still enslaved here in America and around the world, but the good news is that more people are getting educated and more people are getting involved to help and…"

"Ok, ok," Andrew interrupted. "We don't need you to preach at us. We have things to do. Come on, Darien." They started walking away, but Darien was still looking over the flyer. "Darien?"

"27 million?" Darien asked seriously. "I didn't know it was that bad."

"It shocked me too," Serena said sadly. "But the more people know about it, the more help we can get to fight it. Like I said, all the information is on the flyer and you don't have to feel obligated to come. I'll see you later." She started walking away before they had another chance to crack another joke.

"Serena, wait." She turned to face him while he looked at the flyer again. "Do you think we can use some of this information in our presentation? More people might be interested in getting involved."

Serena smiled. "That's a great idea. It can be like a little public service announcement symbolizing something we came together on. I like it."

"Me too. We can work out the other details later. Thanks for the flyer."

"You're welcome. Text me if you have any questions. I'll see you tonight." Serena waved and walked away just as Chad and Rae arrived giving her funny looks behind her back.

Darien closed his locker and felt Andrew and Mina's eyes on him. He hoped to keep his dinner with Serena tonight a secret, but he knew it'd come out sooner or later. He just wished it was later. "What was that about?" Rae asked as she watched Serena leave with her brother.

"Darien is in love with Fruitcake the Stalker," Andrew said as they started walking out of the school. "And apparently they have a date tonight."

"Don't exaggerate, Drew," Darien said agitatedly. "We were just discussing plans for homework and I have to go over there because Mr. Peterson wants us to interact in each other's environments or whatever. You know I can't pass the class without her."

"I don't know," Mina said. "The Love Goddess senses a connection since you were so eager to push us aside to talk to her."

"My Love Goddess is never wrong," Andrew said cheekily. Mina giggled as he kissed her cheek.

"Get a room," Chad said with a fake cough.

"Seriously," Rae said as they entered the Crown. "Couples like you make me wanna gag."

"As opposed to the passive aggressive relationship you and Chad have?" Mina asked as she took a seat next to Andrew.

Darien listened to Mina and Rae bicker about their love lives and breathed a sigh of relief glad that the focus was off of him for a bit. He had to admit that there was some kind of connection between him and Serena, but implying that he was in love with her was taking it much too far. He frowned when he saw Beryl come in; he was still unhappy about the stunt she pulled at lunch. "What are you doing here?" he said coldly.

Beryl gave him a look as if threatening him for asking such a question. "I talked my way out of detention as usual and came to hang with my friends," she replied addressing the group. "What'd I miss?"

"Love is in the air," Mina said in a singsong tone. "Rae and Chad are jealous of me and Andrew's public displays of affection…"

"Jealous of all the gag reflexes it causes?" Beryl interrupted.

"Ha!" Rae said. "That's exactly the point I was making."

Mina rolled her eyes at the commentary and then smiled as she continued. "And Darien is in love with Meatball Head."

"I am not," Darien insisted. "The only reason I have to spend time with her is because of the project."

"I'm starting to think that's your cover, Darien," Rae said skeptically. "You blew us off to have lunch with her today and then ditched us to go talk to her in the courtyard."

"And let's not forget how you totally defended her at your locker when she personally invited you to that church thing," Mina added.

"And don't forget about your dinner date at her house," Chad added. "I'll see you tonight, Darien." Chad batted his eyes at him and everyone in the group laughed except Darien and Beryl.

"What date?" Beryl asked with a scowl on her face. "I thought she hated you by now."

"Well she doesn't and I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to 'help' me again, Beryl."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means you need to mind your business. We aren't a couple anymore and you don't have the right to interfere in my other relationships."

"So you admit you're in a relationship with Meatball Head?" Mina asked.

Darien rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it. God, you guys are blowing this thing way out of proportion. We're partners for a project and that's all there is to it. So shut up, stop talking about it, and get your heads out of the gutter!"

"Dude, chill," Chad said. "They're girls and they blow _everything_ out of proportion."

"Hey!" Mina, Rae, and Beryl exclaimed together.

"Says the guy who just batted his eyes at Darien," Andrew added as everyone except Chad laughed. "But let's just move on before Darien throws a hissy fit and breaks something."

"Andy, I love you, but no one says hissy fit anymore," Mina said. The group laughed and moved on to another topic of conversation while Darien put the flyer away. _What is that girl doing to me_ he wondered to himself.

**a/n: Thanks again for reading. I have a basic direction for how I want this story to go, but if you think of any ideas feel free to PM me. Next up: Dinner at Serena's house.**


	6. Chapter 6

**a/n: I'm SO sorry I haven't updated in so long. I'm in graduate school and it's the end of the semester so I've been finishing up my internship and working on my final assignments. It's almost over so I'll have more free time to work on this story and hopefully get on a regular posting schedule. Welcome to all the new readers and thanks as always for the reviews, favorites, and follows. You should probably reread the previous chapters to remember what's going on, but whenever you're ready go ahead and enjoy this next chapter.**

After setting the bowl of salad on the table next to the garlic bread, Serena straightened the silverware on the napkins while her mother took the lasagna out of the oven. "That's the third time you've fiddled with those forks, honey," her mother said with amusement as she placed the lasagna on the table.

Serena sighed. "I just want everything to be perfect."

"Everything is as perfect as it's going to get. The food smells delicious, everything's clean, and I'm sure Darien is going to enjoy himself."

"Does he have to come here?" Sammy asked. "I really don't like that guy."

"Samuel, if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all," Irene warned.

"Just give him a chance, Sammy," Serena replied. "And please don't pull anything like you did that day we ran into him."

"Whatever," Sammy muttered as he left to go into the den.

Serena started straightening the silverware again until Irene covered her hands to stop her. "What is going on with you, Serena?"

"Nothing! I don't have a crush on him if that's what you're getting at, Mom."

Irene smiled. "I can't say that thought didn't cross my mind, but I know better. This shouldn't be any different than when you bring your other friends over here for the first time so why are you going through so much more trouble to impress Darien?"

"Because that's what Jesus would do?" Serena tried before her mother gave her a look. "Well that's part of it, but I just want him to be comfortable here. It is a little different since Darien and I aren't exactly friends. We've had to work through a lot to get to this point and I just don't want to mess anything else up." She didn't want to tell her about the entire smacking fiasco from earlier and she hoped her answer would suffice.

"What do you mean by 'anything else'?"

Before Serena could answer the doorbell saved her. "He's here. I'll explain later." She hurried out of the kitchen with her mother following and stopped by the den where her father and brother were sitting. "Remember what I told you earlier. Be kind, don't treat him like a criminal, and don't ask about his family." Before they had a chance to question her Serena headed to the front hallway. She took a deep breath and brushed some invisible dirt off her shirt before opening the door. She found Darien standing there with a small box in his hands "Come on in," she said as she stepped aside to let him inside. "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for having me. I brought a peace offering." He opened the box he was holding and showed her an assorted bunch of cookies. "I know it doesn't completely make up for earlier, but they're all chocolate cookies and I figured all girls like chocolate anyway so I hope it's enough."

Serena smiled. "It's more than enough. You really didn't have to bring these, but I'm not going to turn away free cookies." She took the box from him. "I want you to meet my family." She led him to the den and stopped in the doorway. "You remember Sammy, right?"

"Yeah, how's it going?" Sammy sat in the chair beside the doorway and continued playing whatever was on his Nintendo DS without acknowledging him.

Serena placed a hand on her hip. "Sammy, Darien is talking to you."

"Hey," Sammy replied as he continued playing his game. Irene got up and took the DS from him. "Mom! I wasn't done!"

"You're done now." Sammy crossed his arms while Irene turned to Darien and smiled. "Hello, Darien. I'm Serena's mother, Irene. It's so nice to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, ma'am. Serena has told me a lot about you."

"She must have forgotten to mention that you don't have to call me ma'am. Please, call me Irene."

"How are you doing, Darien?" Ken said extending a hand towards him as he joined his wife. "I'm Serena's father, Ken."

Darien shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"And it's nice to see a young man with such good manners and a good handshake. Are we ready to eat, dear?"

"We'll be ready as soon as everyone washes their hands," Irene replied. "Darien, there's a guest bathroom down the hall and to your left if you don't want to wait for everyone else to finish washing their hands in the kitchen."

"Thank you, ma'am… I mean, Mrs. Irene." Irene smiled as Darien walked down the hall towards the bathroom.

Serena followed her family into the kitchen and set the cookies on the countertop. She started to wash her hands, but she could feel everyone's eyes on her. "What?" she said with a sigh.

"What's this business about a peace offering?" Ken asked.

"It's nothing," Serena replied. "Darien was just being polite."

"For the time being," Sammy chimed in. "That's the guy who bullies Serena all the time. He and his friends call her names and make a hobby out of making fun of her."

"That was before, Daddy," Serena said noticing the look on her father's face. "We've had our differences, but things are changing. He's a good guy and I'd appreciate it if you treated him as such." She didn't want to give her family a reason to dislike Darien and she hoped to God he wasn't listening to their conversation.

Sammy scoffed and Serena rolled her eyes at him. "Serena, there's nothing to worry about," Irene said. "We've been through this with all your new friends and we're going to treat Darien the same way we would want to be treated. Right, boys?" She looked pointedly at Ken and Sammy.

"Yes, ma'am," Sammy and Ken said together.

"See? Nothing to worry about."

Serena sighed and dried her hands just as Darien came into the kitchen. If he heard their conversation, his face didn't show it and by now she would have known if something was bothering him. "You can sit wherever you want, Darien. What would you like to drink? We have a little bit of everything."

"Water is fine," he replied.

"Ice or no ice?"

"No ice, please." He took a seat beside Irene who sat at one end of the table across from Ken who sat at the other end. Sammy sat diagonally across from Darien next to Ken. Serena made a glass of water for him and herself before taking a seat beside Darien. "Thank you," he said as she set the glass in front of him.

"Irene, will you please bless the table?" Ken asked.

She nodded as everyone bowed their head and closed their eyes. "Dear God, we thank you for this day and we thank you for allowing Darien to join us for dinner tonight. Thank you for this wonderful food and thank you for giving Serena the diligence to prepare it. We pray that this food will nourish our bodies and we pray that you would bless the conversation around this table. All this we ask in Jesus' name and for His sake, amen."

"Amen. Just grab what you want, Darien," Serena instructed him. "There's no real method to the madness."

"You made all of this by yourself?" he asked as he got some salad. He was about to get some bread to go along with it until Sammy purposefully placed the basket out of his reach.

"Serena loves to help in the kitchen," Irene replied as she grabbed the bread basket and placed it between Serena and Darien. "She insisted on doing everything herself today and I just let her at it. I can always use the break."

"So how do you know Serena?" Ken asked.

"Just from school, sir. I've known her since sophomore year and we only had a few classes together, but we got partnered for this Sociology project this year and we've had to spend a lot more time getting to know each other."

"And have you always been friendly with her?" Ken continued. Irene gave her husband a look.

"No, sir, but…"

"Why not?"

"Because I didn't really know her, sir. But I think that's the point of this project. We all got partnered with someone we normally wouldn't associate with to gain a new perspective and to learn from each other. It's only been a couple of months, but Serena has already taught me a lot."

"Like what?"

"Kindness, compassion, not to judge a book by its cover, forgiveness…" He looked at her and smiled earning a smile back from her. "Those are some of the first few things that come mind, sir." Serena was about to return the favor and compliment him back until her father spoke up instead.

"How do you intend to foster your relationship with Serena?"

"Dad!" Serena whined as Sammy snickered.

"Ken, that's enough with the interrogation." Irene said. "What do you like to do for fun, Darien?"

"I like to hang out with my friends, I take karate, I play some guitar, and I like to read."

"Karate, huh?" Ken asked. "What rank are you?"

"Almost a black belt."

"I almost took karate back in my day, but I played basketball instead. I almost went pro until I met the love of my life who convinced me to be a writer instead. Best decision I ever made," he added with a wink as Irene smiled.

"That's kind of you, but the reason you didn't go pro was because you got cut," Irene explained. "You played well, but getting cut from the team helped you see your passion for the sport through writing."

"Beautiful and smart… that's exactly why I married you."

"And because you love me, right?"

"Always and forever."

"Gross!" Sammy exclaimed. "No flirting at the dinner table."

"Oh come on, Sammy. It's not even that bad tonight," Serena said.

Sammy shook his head. "Do your parents flirt in front of you, Darien?" Serena noticed Darien tense up from the corner of her eye while she glared pointedly at her brother.

"Sammy!"

"What?"

"You know what!"

"Kids, stop fighting and eat your dinner," Irene said calmly yet sternly. "We have a guest."

"She started it," Sammy muttered before his father gave him a look.

Serena was about to retort but decided to look at Darien instead to see how he was doing. He was looking down while he continued to eat and she hoped Sammy's question didn't shut him down. "I'm sorry, Darien," she said to him hoping he caught her double meaning.

"It's ok," he replied looking at her meaningfully. "My parents don't flirt in front of me because they died a long time ago, Sammy."

"Oh…" Sammy replied shamefully.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Darien," Ken said sadly.

"It's fine. I've pretty much had to raise myself since foster care did nothing to help me, but it's nice to be here because I can't even remember the last time I had a family dinner."

"We're glad to have you here," Irene said kindly.

Darien smiled. "Everything tastes delicious by the way. I didn't know you could cook so well, Serena."

"I only learned from the best," she replied looking at her mother. "Mom can literally turn anything into a gourmet meal. I'm not even half as good as she is."

"You can say that again," Sammy said. "I mean, you can cook, but Mom's food will always taste better."

"Now you have an excuse to come see us again, Darien," Irene said with a smile. "One of us will be glad to cook something for you so you can judge for yourself. Ken, you never told me how your day went."

"It was fine. They want me to cover the game on Friday…"

Serena zoned out of the conversation and focused on Darien who was still working on his food. He caught her eye and smiled politely at her. She smiled back. She hoped he wasn't just being polite because he felt like he had to especially after being cornered into the uncomfortable conversation about his parents. She was proud of him for handling it so well and she was thankful her family didn't pry any further, but she still wondered if he was ok. She would have to ask him later.

* * *

After dinner, Darien waited in the den on the sofa for Serena while she, Sammy, and her mom cleaned the kitchen. Soon Ken joined him and took a seat beside him. It was a bit intimidating to be in the room by himself with Serena's father and he wondered what he was up to. "Darien, I owe you an apology," he said.

"For what, sir?"

"I made some quick judgments about you and assumed the worst without taking the time to get to know you. It wasn't a Christ like thing to do and I'm very sorry."

"Don't worry about it, sir. I can see why you'd want to protect Serena from someone like me."

"Of course. It's because boys are pigs." Darien gave him a look. "I'm kidding… kind of." He sighed. "Serena is a treasure. Not to say that Sammy isn't special too, but it's just different having a daughter. And it's even scarier because you remind me of myself when I was your age. I have to give you credit though, Darien. You seem like a strong, smart young man. Perhaps a little misguided, but overall you seem to have a good head on your shoulders." He paused. "I also wanted to extend a personal invitation to our home anytime you want. I hate that you were forced to grow up alone so fast and I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must have been on you, but if you still need a family you're always welcome here."

"I… um…" Darien started before clearing his throat. "I appreciate that, sir."

Ken smiled. "I'll be in my office preparing for work tomorrow, but if I don't see you before then I wish you a good night. I look forward to seeing you again." He patted Darien's back before he got up and left the den.

Darien certainly didn't expect to be shown so much kindness from Serena's father, especially since it was probable that Serena told him and the rest of her family how much of a jerk he was, but if Serena could work hard to look past all the crap he put her through he probably shouldn't have been surprised that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

Sammy came into the den and grabbed his DS before heading right back out, but he stopped in the doorway and turned to face Darien. "I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "I didn't know."

"It's ok," Darien replied.

Sammy crossed his arms. "I'm still not sure I buy the good guy act. You're probably just trying to suck up to our family so you can stay on Serena's good side and get an A on that project. After it's all over everything will go back to normal and you'll be back to your old tricks. You might have everyone else fooled, but I'm not falling for it."

Darien sighed. "I get that you're trying to protect your sister and that's perfectly fine, but you have it all wrong. Things are different now. I know I've taken Serena for granted and after how much I've screwed up I don't deserve anything from her, but she's given me another chance and I don't intend to waste it. She's spent so much time trying to be my friend and I think it's time that I start returning the favor whether we get an A on this project or not."

"If you say so." Sammy left and passed by Serena who was coming into the den. She took a seat beside Darien and sighed deeply.

"Are you ok?"

Serena covered her face with one of her hands. "Darien, I'm so embarrassed. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to step foot in this house ever again. Between my dad interrogating you and Sammy asking about your parents when I specifically told him not to and then making a fool of myself by blowing up at him and…"

"Serena, stop," he interrupted. "Everything's ok. I was supposed to be interacting in your environment and I don't think it would have counted if everything was staged to perfection. Sammy and your dad both apologized to me."

Serena looked at him confusedly. "Mom and I sent Sammy in here, but I didn't expect Dad to apologize too."

"I didn't either. He complimented me and personally invited me back to be part of the family. There's a lot of love here and you're lucky you live in an environment where so many people care. I'm glad I came tonight."

"I am too." Serena looked down for a moment. "I heard a little bit of what you were saying to Sammy. He might not trust you, but I can see you're trying and that's enough for me."

"That's good to know. Are we really ok now?"

Serena nodded. "We just have to make sure building our friendship becomes a habit instead of a one-time event. Now what can I do to interact in your environment?"

"I don't know. Maybe since I came to your house you could come to my place, but that doesn't seem to be enough since I live alone."

"Can I still come to your black belt tournament?"

"You can, but that doesn't seem to be enough either since you're not the one doing karate."

Serena seemed to be thinking about it. "How often do you practice karate?"

"I go to class every Saturday afternoon and I practice 2-3 times a week at home so I stay in shape. Why?"

"Would it be any trouble if I came over one day after school to watch you practice? That way I could figure out what karate is all about and see you in action before your big tournament."

"How would you feel about me teaching you some basic karate lessons instead?"

Serena's face brightened. "That's an even better idea! I'd like that."

"Great. Next time I'm off from work you can come over. I'll let you know when I get my schedule next week."

"That's fine. Is there anything else we need to go over tonight?"

"I can't think of anything. What time is it?"

Serena checked her watch. "It's almost 7:30. I have other homework I need to finish before it gets too late."

"I do too. Is your mom still in the kitchen?"

"She should be." They walked into the kitchen and found Irene reading a magazine while eating some cookies. "Mom, Darien's about to leave."

Irene stood up and gave him a hug. "I enjoyed having you, Darien," she said to him. "I hope the so called men in this house didn't scare you away."

"No ma'am… Mrs. Irene. I'm sure I'll be back since Serena and I have to work on our project together anyway. Thank you for opening your home to me."

"The pleasure is all mine." She went to the counter and picked up a plate that was covered in aluminum foil. "We have a little too much lasagna here so please take this home with you."

"Thank you," he said as he took the plate. "I know Mr. Thomas is busy so please send him my regards."

"I will. Good night, Darien."

Serena led Darien to the front door and stopped before giving him a hug. Apparently showing affection was a genetic trait of the women in this house and he certainly didn't mind. "Consider the rest of that lasagna my peace offering to you. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Serena." He waved at her as he headed to his car. He drove away and watched her in his rearview mirror as she went back inside. It was a rough day, but he was glad things ended well after his visit at Serena's house. It certainly wasn't as hard to get along with them as he thought and he almost couldn't wait to return someday. For now he had to focus on getting his other assignments done before making any other future plans.

**a/n: Let me know what you think and keep sending me any ideas you have for the story!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm sorry about not posting in a while. I've been having computer issues. :-( School is over and I got all A's! (All that hard work paid off!) I have a busy summer, but I'm going to try hard to get on a regular posting schedule so please bear with me. Enjoy this next chapter and let me know what you think. Hopefully it was worth the wait!**

The next day at school Darien met up with his friends in the front courtyard. He mentally prepared himself as much as possible for all the jokes about his dinner at Serena's house last night and hoped it wouldn't be too brutal. "Hey," he said when he arrived.

"Hey yourself," Beryl replied.

"How was your date with Meatball Head last night?" Mina asked.

Darien rolled his eyes. "For the last time, Mina, it wasn't a date. It was just a simple dinner with her and her family."

"So how horrible was it?" Andrew asked.

Darien shrugged. "It wasn't bad. We had lasagna and we just got to know each other better."

"So they didn't make you read the Bible, chant 1000 Hail Marys, pressure you to convert, or sing Kumbayah around the dinner table?"

"No. I mean they prayed over the food, but other than that it was just a normal family dinner."

"They probably just put on the perfect little family act so you wouldn't think badly of them," Rae suggested. "I bet they have all kinds of skeletons in the closet."

"Maybe they actually have a dead body in their closet," Chad added. "Don't Christians make sacrifices to appease God or something?"

"Chad, you watch _way _too much TV. It was nothing like that. Believe me, I know exactly when to call BS and I didn't get that vibe when I was over there. They're genuinely nice people and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop talking about them like they're monsters."

"Chill out, Darien," Beryl said. "It's not like they're your family."

Darien narrowed his eyes at her. Lately it seemed that she had developed a bad habit of saying the wrong things at the wrong time. "Maybe not, but you wouldn't like it if I started talking crap about your family, would you?"

The question hung in the air just as Serena was about to pass by the group. She smiled when she saw Darien. "Morning, Darien," she said cheerfully.

Darien smiled back at her. He just couldn't help it. "Good morning." She continued walking towards the school as he watched her disappear inside. He turned back to his friends and found them staring with mischievous looks on their faces. "What?"

"Nothing," Rae giggled.

"What?" Darien asked again.

"Dinner, right?" Chad asked. "Did you happen to stay for 'dessert' too?" The group laughed and Darien rolled his eyes. He grabbed his backpack and headed inside just as the warning bell rang. He hated that his friends felt the need to keep implying that he was in love with Serena and wondered how long it would take for them to grow up. He sighed as he headed to his English class.

* * *

Darien was about to join his friends at their normal lunch table but when he saw Serena sitting at another table with Amy Anderson and Lita Kingston an idea came to him. He started heading in her direction when Andrew's voice stopped him. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going to sit with Serena."

"Why? Isn't one meal with her enough?"

"Very funny, but it's for our project. I have to see how she interacts with her friends."

"She has friends?"

Darien rolled his eyes. "I'll catch up with you guys at the Crown after school."

"If this is about this morning…"

"It's not. I'll see you later. And tell Beryl not to come after me." Darien left and continued towards Serena's table. She was laughing with Amy and Lita when he got there. "Hey, Serena. Is it ok if I join you?"

Amy just stared and Lita looked at him suspiciously. "Of course you can," Serena said as she made room for him. Darien took a seat beside her. "Do you know Amy and Lita?"

"Only by name, but not really."

"Then you're missing out. Amy is literally a genius, but she's also one of the kindest, most caring, and loyal friends you could ever ask for. And she's also a beast on all of the Just Dance games."

"I wouldn't say all that," Amy said shyly. "But I find that dancing is a wonderful stress reliever."

"And Lita is by far the best cook you would ever want to meet. She's always trying new recipes out on us and today she brought some curry. You should try some."

Darien looked at the curry. It smelled delicious and he was dying to try some, but he saw the glare Lita was giving him. "Something wrong?"

"What are you up to?" she asked him. "If this is another sick joke I swear to God…"

"Lita, don't swear," Serena scolded gently. "Darien is a friend and I'd appreciate it if you gave him a chance. Please?"

Lita continued glaring at him for a moment longer. "Ok," she drew out as she put some curry on a paper plate. She handed it to him. "I saw you eyeing it so try some and tell me what you think. It's a new recipe I found on Pinterest."

"Thanks," Darien replied. He took a bite and chewed it slowly. The curry had the right consistency and all the flavors blended perfectly. It was one of the best things he had ever tasted. "This is amazing," he exclaimed as he took another bite.

"Bet you didn't know I could cook so well, huh?"

Darien was surprised that a girl like Lita was so skilled at cooking. He only knew about her based on what Andrew had told him after she transferred to the school last year. He remembered being intimidated by her height when he first saw her and later heard the rumor that she got kicked out of her old school for fighting. He never had any personal encounters with her and only saw her in the hallways, but he noticed that she was always by herself and the other students moved out of her way whenever they saw her coming. At this point he wasn't surprised that Serena had befriended her and brought out her good side. "If I had known I'd be getting a free meal, I wouldn't have bought my lunch today," Darien said as he got more curry. "What else can you cook?"

"Everything," Serena said excitedly. "You name it, she can make it."

"Serena, you're embarrassing me," Lita replied with a laugh. "I can't cook _everything_… at least not yet. I love baking and lately I've been specializing in Asian cuisine. But one day I'm going to open my own restaurant chain and then take the whole world by storm with a little bit of everything."

"Darien, I hate to ask, but why are you sitting with us today?" Amy finally chimed in.

Darien thought about it. It was a fair question. Sure he told Andrew it was for his and Serena's project, but he knew it went deeper than that. He liked being around Serena not because he had a crush on her or anything because her presence just made him feel better. He'd never admit that out loud, but Amy certainly seemed like the calculating type who could easily figure out his motives. He had only been in one class with Amy since he had transferred to the school a couple of years ago. She was quiet, but she was very intelligent as evidenced by all the A's she received on every single assignment. He heard other students talk about how Amy was stuck up because she knew she had the highest GPA in the whole region and everyone kept their distance without speaking a word to her… everyone except Serena, of course.

"I don't know if you know already," Darien finally said. "but Serena and I are partners for Mr. Peterson's big sociology project and right now we're on a unit where we're exploring each other's environments. We tried to have lunch together yesterday, but we… uh… kind of got interrupted so I thought I'd make it up to her."

"So this is a temporary arrangement until you complete your project," Amy stated.

Darien looked from Amy to Serena who seemed curious about what he was going to say next. "I hope not. She's too good of a friend to lose. I'm sure you know that already."

Amy smiled. "Indeed. I don't know what I would have done if Serena didn't start sitting with me at lunch during freshman year. She's certainly a true friend."

"Definitely," Lita mused as she stared at Darien for a moment. "You know, you remind me a little bit of one of my ex-boyfriends."

"Oh here we go," Serena said as Amy giggled. "You'll have to excuse her, Darien. Lita is a little bit boy crazy."

"I am not…" Lita defended. Darien continued eating amused by the conversation that followed. Serena's friends were certainly one of a kind and he was glad he had the chance to learn more about them. On the surface it wouldn't appear that these three girls had nothing in common, but again it just goes to show that he couldn't make quick judgments about anyone without learning their story first. Different people had different things to offer and he was glad he had the opportunity to learn more.

* * *

Beryl watched bitterly as Darien took another bite of whatever that Amazon was feeding him while sitting beside that stupid Meatball Head. How dare he order her not to come over there? "You know, if you take a picture it might last longer," Chad said.

Beryl turned and rolled her eyes at him. "If you learned to mind your business you might not get punched in the face."

"Don't threaten him," Rae said defensively. "Just because your _ex_-boyfriend isn't paying attention to you anymore doesn't mean you can take your frustration out on us."

"You have been staring over there for a long time, Beryl," Mina chimed in. "Give it a rest."

"It just doesn't make sense," Beryl mused as she picked at her lunch.

"There's nothing to worry about," Andrew said. "He's only sitting over there to get more information for his project or something. He probably wouldn't have had to if you didn't butt in yesterday."

"It wasn't a big deal. How was I supposed to know he'd take it so seriously?"

"Because he's Darien and he's known to get mad if you try to screw him over. You of all people should know that." Beryl groaned. "Anyway, he's going to meet us at the Crown later and things will be back to normal."

Beryl sighed. She hated that Darien was slowly but surely moving on and part of it was her fault. She had to think of another strategy if there was ever going to be any hope of getting back on his good side. She tried to remember how succeeded the first time.

* * *

_It was the first day of sophomore year and Beryl was running behind because she forgot her textbook in her locker. She wasn't in a terrible hurry because she was sure she would have no problem coming up with an excuse since her father was a prominent part of the school board. She turned a corner and saw Dean "Diamond" Blackmoon, his brother Samuel "Sapphire" Blackmoon, and their cousin Ruben Carson surrounding the new guy she and the girls saw earlier. The new guy was one of the most gorgeous guys she had ever laid eyes on and even though most girls had already gone over the top trying to make their presence known to him Beryl was determined to make him notice her first. She marched towards Diamond and Ruben who were now shoving the new guy around while Sapphire watched worriedly._

"_What's the matter?" Diamond taunted. "Can't fight back or something?"_

"_He's probably scared senseless," Ruben responded before shoving him again. "What are you gonna do?"_

"_Come on guys," Sapphire said as the warning bell rang. "You can't get in a fight on the first day of school."_

"_Don't be such a wimp, little bro," Diamond said. "We just need to teach New Guy how things work around here." He shoved him again. "Come on! Fight back!" The new guy clenched his fists and looked like he was finally about to retaliate until Beryl cut in._

"_Get lost, morons!" she yelled at them. They turned to face her and just stared. "What's the matter? Don't you understand English? I said get lost!" _

_Sapphire immediately ran away, Ruben rolled his eyes, and Diamond merely smirked. "I love it when you take charge like that. It's sexy."_

"_And I love it when you keep your mouth shut. Try your lines on someone stupid enough to fall for them." Diamond sighed and left with Ruben while Beryl shook her head. "Imbeciles," she muttered. She turned to face the new guy. "Are you all right?"_

"_I'm fine," he said as he closed his locker. "Thanks." He started walking away from her and she caught up with him._

"_Where are you headed?"_

"_English, room 127. I appreciate you getting those losers off my back, but I'm fully capable of taking care of myself."_

"_So is that why you're going towards the History wing?" He stopped and frowned while Beryl smiled. "It's ok. It's easy to get confused in a big school like this. I can show you a shortcut if you follow me. I'm headed to English too."_

_He sighed and started following her. "Fine."_

"_So what's your name anyway?"_

"_Darien. You?"_

"_Beryl. Are you new to the area or did you just transfer schools?"_

"_Both."_

_Beryl sighed. _Not much of a conversationalist I see._ "This breezeway takes you directly to the English wing. Just remember the lockers in the History wing are green and the lockers in the English wing are orange. On the second floor, the lockers in the Math wing are blue and the lockers in the Science wing are blue. The cafeteria is towards the principal's and nurse's offices and the gym is in the back of the school."_

"_That should be easy to remember." The final bell rang. "Crap, we're late."_

"_It'll be ok. It's the first day of school and Ms. H. won't care." Beryl entered the classroom with Darien following close behind._

"_Ms. Stone, you're late!" Ms. H. complained. "You know I don't tolerate tardiness."_

"_I know that and I'm sorry," Beryl replied. "But I was helping one of our new classmates find his way around here."_

_Ms. H.'s face softened. "Oh," she said as she noticed Darien for the first time. She looked at her attendance sheet then back up at him. "Are you Mr. Shields?"_

"_Yes, ma'am," Darien replied._

"_Well I'm glad Ms. Stone helped you 'find your way,' but next time you're late you'll have detention. Both of you may find a seat."_

_Beryl looked around and noticed that the only open seats available were in the back; one in the corner behind a guy and one beside the corner seat near a few girls who were motioning for Darien to sit there. "You can have the corner seat if you want," she said to Darien._

"_Thanks," he said as he sat down._

_Beryl sat at the desk beside him near the girls who were still staring at Darien. She could see the annoyed look on Darien's face and she was annoyed that the other girls were trying to get his attention when she saw him first. "If you take a picture it might last longer," she said to the girls. "It's not like you haven't seen a boy before so stop staring at him like he's a piece of meat!" The girls frowned and did as they were told. Darien looked up at her and smiled appreciatively. She could have died after seeing him smile for the first time, but she opted to smile back instead. This would be easier than she thought._

* * *

_It turned out that Beryl had most of her classes with Darien and after helping him adjust to the school quickly they became good friends. Her only regret was introducing him to Rae because they eventually developed a mutual attraction to one another. Darien ended up taking her on a few dates and Beryl didn't like it, but she did her best to stay out of the way while innocently encouraging Chad not to give up his crush on Rae. She, however, was almost ready to give up on Darien until junior year when he came knocking on her door. She was surprised to see him standing there when she answered. "Darien," she said calmly. "What are you doing here?"_

_Darien came inside with his shoulders slumped and sighed as he took a seat on her couch in her den. He had been to her house plenty of times over the course of the last year and their homework sessions turned into meaningful conversations getting to know each other better. It was there he confessed he had a crush on Rae and asked for her help and soon after that the visits slowly decreased, but Beryl always said he could come to her whenever he needed something. She was glad he still felt comfortable enough to make himself at home like old times. "She dumped me," he said sadly as Beryl took a seat beside him. "I mean, I know we weren't officially dating, but you may as well say that's what happened."_

_Inside Beryl was rejoicing, but on the outside she expressed concern. "What happened? I thought things were going so well for you two."_

"_It was! At least I thought it was. I took Rae out plenty of times and I thought she was enjoying herself. We talked and laughed together and we found out we have so much in common. I thought she was the perfect girl for me, but today she basically told me it was over. Apparently Chad was inspired to write a song for her and after she heard it she realized he was the one for her." He sighed. "The sad thing is the more I think about it, the more I can see that she's right. He's funnier, more creative, bolder, more open… everything she needs and everything I'm not." He laughed nervously. "I'm pretty pathetic, huh?"_

"_Not at all," Beryl said as she inched closer to him. She placed a hand on his back near his shoulder and started rubbing motions. "A little misguided, but definitely not pathetic. So what if you're not like Chad and you're not a good fit for Rae. You're still you... intelligent, mysterious, strong… handsome…" She paused for a moment and took in his beautiful features. The way his face was so perfectly structured. The way his dark hair fell messily in his face. The way his cobalt eyes were finally focused on her. "You might not be the right fit for her, but you're the perfect fit for another girl. Maybe a girl who's been in front of you this whole time."_

"_Maybe you're right," he said quietly as his eyes moved from her eyes to her lips. Beryl's heart began to race as Darien closed the gap between them and gave her a soft kiss. She closed her eyes and started to respond until he suddenly pulled away. "Oh my God, Beryl, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I just got caught in the moment a-a-and…"_

_Beryl silenced him by placing a finger on his lips. "I didn't mind," she said with a smile before she leaned in and gave him another kiss. He was tense at first, but he eventually relaxed as he responded to her by falling back on the sofa and deepening the kiss. He caressed her face and hair while she continued kissing him as she played with the back of his hair. She never wanted the moment to end, but she had to before things got out of hand. She pulled away and rested her forehead on his._

"_You've always been there, haven't you?" Darien asked gently as he sat up and let her rest her head on his chest._

_Beryl smiled as he protectively wrapped an arm around her and continued playing with her hair. She closed her eyes and listened to his racing heartbeat. "I'll always be there for you as long as you let me."_

* * *

Darien was always sweet and gentle with her ever since that moment they shared their first kiss and later became an official couple. She was always protective of him and even though she didn't manage to get him in bed with her, she did treasure the moments they had together. Perhaps she was a bit too protective of him, but it was only because she loved him and desired so badly for him to love her the way she loved him. It hurt when he pushed her away whenever she made any sexual advances towards him and eventually she had enough when he finally started pushing her away anytime she tried to show him affection. She only wanted to hurt him for a moment when she set it up for him to "catch" her kissing Diamond, but it backfired big time because the trust he built with her was now broken. And now it had come to this. Darien seemed to be showing love and attention to another girl. The worst part was that it wasn't just any girl, but it was one of the strangest people in the entire school he somehow seemed to share a bond with. Beryl hated it, but she wasn't going to give up so easily this time around. She was going to do whatever it took to finally win him back.

**To be continued... thanks in advance for all the reviews/follows/favorites!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Real life is so annoying sometimes. I've been sick, but I managed to get this next chapter done. Thanks again to all my faithful readers and for all the favorites/follows/reviews. Enjoy!**

A week later, Serena and Darien were at Darien's locker after the final bell rang. "Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?" Darien asked as he closed his locker.

"Not really," Serena replied with a laugh. "But I still wanna try. You teaching me karate is something unique and it gives me a chance to interact with you in your home environment since you got to interact in mine."

"Fair enough. I'm warning you, though, karate isn't as easy as it looks. It's hard work. Do you have everything you need?"

Serena nodded before they walked out of the school together. "I'm ready for the challenge," she continued. "It'll really put me in your shoes and it'll also give me an idea of what's going on during your black belt tournament next week."

They were about to pass the Crown and Darien stopped for a moment. "Do you like smoothies?" he asked her.

"I do. A strawberry banana smoothie actually sounds really good right about now."

Darien opened the door for her and followed her inside. "I know we just had lunch a little while ago, but all the vitamins and nutrients from the smoothies will give our bodies the energy we need to exercise properly," he explained while they waited in line.

Serena nodded. "Fine with me. See? I'm learning something already."

Darien smiled at her as they finally got to the front of the line. "Two strawberry banana smoothies, please," he said to the attendant.

"$5.47 please," the attendant replied.

Serena started digging through her purse to find her wallet, but by the time she pulled it out Darien had already paid. "Here," she said holding out a couple of dollars to him.

"Don't worry about it. You've done so much for me the least I can do is buy you a smoothie." The attendant handed Darien the smoothies before he handed one to Serena. "Ready?"

Serena nodded. "Thank you for this. I'll repay you somehow."

Darien rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed causing Serena to giggle as they began walking out of the Crown. "What part of 'don't worry about it' don't you understand?" He held the door open for her and followed her outside. "Isn't worrying a sin or something?"

"Well, the Bible doesn't necessarily say 'worrying is a sin,' but one verse says 'do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer…" She was cut off when she accidentally bumped into someone. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "Oh, hi Beryl."

Beryl looked Serena up and down condescendingly with Darien's other friends standing behind her looking on with annoyance. "You better be sorry, Fruitcake."

"Serena and I were just leaving so if you'll excuse us we'll be on our way," Darien said trying to lead Serena past her.

"Oh come on, Dar," Andrew said. "Can't you hang with us for a little bit?"

"Can't. We have work to do for our project."

"With smoothies?" Rae asked. "You spend enough time with her as it is. Just ditch her and come hang with your real friends for once."

"It's obvious they're going on a date," Mina suggested. "I think it's cute."

"I ship it," Chad added. "Of course we all know Darien's into kinky freaky stuff anyway so it's totally cool with me." The group laughed as Serena frowned and Darien rolled his eyes.

"Enough is enough," Beryl said. "Let's just leave them alone and let them get to their little project." The group went inside the Crown, but Beryl stayed behind and whispered something to Serena. "God doesn't like ugly." She smiled at her innocently before joining the rest of her friends.

Darien eyed Beryl suspiciously as she went inside then looked to Serena. Her body language immediately told him something happened. "What'd she say to you?"

"It's not important," she said quietly.

He sighed deeply. "I'm really sorry about them."

"You don't have to apologize for them, Darien. I'm used to it by now."

"But it's not right! They shouldn't treat you like that. I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind." He started to go back inside, but Serena stopped him.

"Darien, relax," Serena said gently touched his arm. "It's not worth it. I don't want your relationship with your friends to be broken because of me. Let's just put this behind us and focus on what's ahead, ok?"

Darien closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Ok," he finally said. They continued walking to his apartment and made small talk as they finished their smoothies. Darien certainly liked being around Serena and even though it cost him time with his other friends he liked that her presence had such a positive calming effect on him. Soon enough they arrived at Darien's apartment complex. "I have to check in first," he explained. They walked to an office on the first floor where the door was already open. Darien knocked on the door getting the woman with the long dark hair's attention. "Trista, I'm home," he said to her. "I brought a friend with me, Serena my sociology partner. We'll be working on our project."

"It's nice to meet you, Serena. Darien, you know you don't have to introduce your friends to me. You know the rules and I trust you."

"I know, but I just didn't want you to be surprised."

Trista smiled. "Just don't make too much noise, ok?"

"Yes, ma'am." He led Serena up the stairs into his apartment. "Make yourself at home," he said as he set his things down and closed the door. "Is there anything you need?"

Serena shook her head as she set her things beside Darien's. "Not right now. Trista seems nice."

"Yeah, she's cool. She's kind of like the landlord representing social services/house mother and basically makes sure we're doing what we're supposed to. I like her because even though she's serious about her job she doesn't hold her power over our heads and actually treats us like adults. I'm gonna go ahead and change into my workout clothes. You can change in the bathroom which is the first door on the left. I'll meet you in the den."

Serena watched him go to the back of the apartment and decided to change clothes too. After changing into some gym shorts and one of her old church t-shirts, she went back into the den and admired her surroundings. Darien didn't have many decorations and everything was neat and simple. It was a nice little place for him, but she couldn't help feeling sorry that he lived all by himself. She noticed an acoustic guitar sitting in the corner of the den and smiled as she remembered being surprised when he told her that he played. She went over to get a closer look and found hand written sheet music lying on top of some music books. "Wow," she said to herself as she picked them up.

"I could give you some lessons if you want," Darien said from across the room startling her.

Serena looked up and had to stop herself from staring at Darien. He was dressed in gym shorts and a tank top that showed off plenty of muscles she didn't realize he had. "Maybe another day," she said as she looked down and focused on tying her hair in a ponytail while looking at the music in her lap. "I didn't know you wrote your own music too."

Darien shrugged. "It's just something to do." He handed her a large bottle of water and a towel. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'm gonna be." She followed him into another room that had nothing but a small amount of exercise equipment in it. "Is this your personal gym?"

"Something like that," he said as he set two pillows on the middle of the floor. "It's an extra bedroom, but I decided to make better use of the room since I live alone."

"So what's first? Do we bow to each other like they do in the movies?"

Darien smiled and shook his head. "It's not quite like the movies," he explained. "It's more like a workout at the gym except with less equipment and more work with your body. I usually spend about an hour and a half practicing, but I'll go easy on you since this is your first lesson. We'll meditate, warm up, stretch, and then I'll teach you some basic punching, kicking, and blocking techniques. As soon as you take your shoes off, we can get started." Serena followed his directions while he set two large pillows and a radio in the middle of the room. She met him in the middle and waited for more instructions. "We can bow if it'll help you get in the spirit." Serena smiled as they stood face to face. She and Darien clasped their hands together and overdramatically bowed to each other. Darien laughed. "Meditation will actually help us get in the zone. Go ahead and sit on one of those pillows."

Serena sat on one of the pillows and watched Darien do the same. "Do I have to sit with my legs crossed?"

"Not necessarily," Darien explained as he positioned himself on his own pillow. "As long as you're sitting in a comfortable position where you can keep your back straight for about 5 minutes, you'll be fine. Have you ever meditated before?"

Serena shook her head no as she got in a comfortable position and made sure to straighten her back. "Is this ok?"

"That's perfect," he said to her. "Meditation is just a process used to clear your mind of all distractions. All you have to do is close your eyes and focus on taking deep steady breaths. While your eyes are closed, picture all of your thoughts evaporating into thin air. I like to use soft music to create a tranquil mood. Once the song ends we'll be done."

"That sounds easy enough," Serena said as she closed her eyes and began breathing slowly.

"Just relax," Darien said softly. He turned on the music and closed his eyes getting in his own restful position. The room was filled with silence aside from the soft background music as he and Serena sat there relaxing their minds and letting go of all the stresses of the day. It was a very peaceful time and 5 minutes passed quickly before the music finally stopped as Darien opened his eyes again. Serena was still sitting there in the same restful pose looking very much at peace. "Serena," he called gently.

Serena opened her eyes and looked at him. "I didn't even realize the music went off. I feel completely calm."

"The best thing is that you can do it anytime you want." They stood up together before he kicked the pillows aside and moved the radio out of the way. "Now we're going to warm up by running in place for about 5 minutes then doing about 5 minutes of pushups and sit ups."

"Please don't judge me," Serena said as they began running in place. "I haven't really worked out since my last semester of PE in 10th grade."

"I wouldn't have known if you didn't say anything. You look like you're in great shape."

Serena smiled. Hopefully running in place would make her cheeks red enough to hide the blush forming on her face and Darien wouldn't be able to tell the difference. "So how long have you been doing karate again?"

"3 years. I started when I started high school."

"What made you interested?"

Darien laughed to himself. "Don't laugh at me, but the _Karate Kid _movies inspired me when I was little. Since no one was really fighting for me I decided when I got older I would learn how to fight for myself. It's actually a really good stress reliever and it keeps me relaxed."

"I can see how, with the meditation and everything." Serena stopped running when Darien did and placed her hands on her hips to rest for a moment. "I'm glad you found a healthy outlet instead of letting everything build up inside."

Darien nodded as he placed his hands on his hips too. "I guess I was determined to rise above and be the best I could be despite everything else going on around me." They rested for a little bit longer before he sat on the floor. "I usually do about 20 reps of pushups and sit ups to finish warming up."

Serena sighed as she joined him on the floor. "This is more intense than I thought."

"You don't have to do as many as me if you think it'll be too much for you. I can always slow down too."

Serena shook her head. "Don't slow down because of me. I'll just pace myself while you do your normal set." She positioned herself to do her pushups.

"Well take your time," Darien instructed as he positioned himself. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Serena nodded and started her pushups. She took her time like Darien instructed, but she couldn't help feeling slightly intimidated as she watched him go twice the speed she was. They finished pushups around the same time even though Darien had obviously done much more than 20 and repeated the same process with the sit ups. As soon as Serena finished her last sit up, she laid down with her back on the floor. "Whew," she said breathlessly.

"Are you ok?" Darien asked as he sat up.

Serena closed her eyes and nodded. "I'm just resting for a moment."

Darien got up and returned with their waters. "Don't forget to stay hydrated," he said as he handed her the bottle.

"Thank you." Serena sat up and drank some of her water. "What's next?"

"Now we stretch," he replied as he set his water down. He started stretching his arms and Serena followed suit.

"Is there a reason we didn't stretch before warming up?"

"Warming up activates your muscles," Darien explained. "It's not a good idea to stretch before you warm up because that's when your muscles are still cold and least receptive to what stretching actually does for your body. Make sure you stretch your legs." Serena obeyed and Darien eventually showed her some stretches she wasn't quite familiar with that stretched other muscles she never thought about. "Now we can get into the karate moves."

"Great. Where do I start?"

"Well first you have to get familiar with your fighting stance. Stand with your legs shoulder width apart and your feet facing outward like this." Darien demonstrated and Serena followed suit. "Now raise your fists like you're ready to fight." Serena did as she was told. He came over and slightly repositioned her so she was more balanced. "Perfect. Now you have your resting stance. Remember that." Darien patiently taught Serena all the basic punching, kicking, and blocking techniques the same way his karate instructor taught him. He helped her form and allowed her to practice her moves on a dummy instructing her how to improve before trading places and showing her step by step how he did it. They worked on those moves for about half an hour before they took another break. "You're doing a great job for your first time," he said before wiping his face with a towel. "You catch on quick."

Serena smiled tiredly. "I didn't watch the _Karate Kid _movies, but I did watch a lot of Sailor Moon." She took a long drink of water. "You're a great teacher."

Darien drank some water too. "I do what I can. How are you feeling? Did I overwork you?"

Serena shook her head. "I'm fine. This is a great workout. What's next?"

"Sparring is too dangerous, so if you're up to it you can practice your punches, kicks, and blocking on me since the dummy can't really move."

Serena frowned. "But I don't want to hurt you."

Darien smiled at her innocence. "You won't because I'll have these shields on." He picked up the arm shields and strapped them on. "And I know other blocking techniques so I'm ready for anything."

"Ok," Serena said as she stood again. "I also want to see you practice for your black belt so I know what a true karate master looks like."

"Fair enough." They moved to the middle of the room. Darien stood a few feet in front of her and instructed her to get in her fighting stance before she started the punches and kicks he taught her. He moved around a bit as she followed and continued her moves. He continually gave her tips so she improved her form and she seemed to take everything on naturally. They continued for about 15 minutes before Serena finally slowed down clearly exhausted. "Good job," he said proudly before taking off the shields. He followed her to the wall where their towels and waters were. "With a little more training you'd definitely be able to get your first belt."

Serena dabbed her face and neck with her towel before smiling at him. "Thank you," she said before drinking more water. She slid to the floor and took a seat.

"Do some of those stretches we did earlier to cool down," he instructed. "Especially your legs."

Serena nodded and did what she was told. "So can you show me some of your black belt moves now so I know what I have to live up to?"

"As long as you keep stretching for at least 5 minutes and keep drinking water." Serena continued stretching while she watched Darien go back to the center of the room to begin practicing. He started by practicing some advanced kicks and punches on the dummy from earlier progressively going faster and faster. He eventually stopped and moved on to do various patterns of kicks and punches into thin air. Everything he showed her was certainly impressive and she expected no less because she knew that once Darien set his mind to do something he was going to work hard to get the job done. She saw him in a new light and appreciated him even more. "Are you sure you aren't a ninja?" she asked when he stopped.

Darien smiled tiredly as he rested his hands on his hips. "I'm working on it."

"Take a break. I know you know what you're doing, but I don't want you to overwork yourself."

He walked towards her and grabbed his towel. "Don't worry," he said breathlessly as he took a seat beside her. He wiped his face and breathed deeply. "I'm done for the day."

She handed him his water bottle. "I don't know exactly what it takes to get a black belt, but you certainly have my vote."

"Thanks," he said before taking a drink. "Do you need to shower or anything?"

"I'm fine. It looks like you're the one who could use a shower." She checked the time. "I need to get going soon."

"You don't have to feel pressured to leave. You're not bothering me."

Serena smiled. "That's really sweet and I'd love to stay, but I have church tonight. I need to get home so I can get the rest of my other homework done."

"Right… I forgot you have church on Wednesday nights." He stood up and offered a hand to help her stand up as well. "I'm gonna go wash up real quick."

"Good," Serena said as she covered her nose. "You stink."

Darien rolled his eyes. "I'll be back. Don't leave without telling me." He headed to his bedroom and did a few cool down stretches before he started a quick wash up in the shower. His muscles ached a little bit and he wondered if he overdid his exercises today. He smirked as he turned on the shower. He wondered how much overdoing his karate moves was legitimate practice for his black belt test and how much was trying to show off to impress Serena. Why was he suddenly so interested in what she thought about him? He knew the answer deep in his heart, but he still didn't want to admit it. His opinion of Serena had changed drastically in the last few weeks; she went from the Meatball Headed Jesus freak to the sweetest most genuine friend he ever had. Darien shook his head at his thought process. There was so much more to her than he originally thought and he was glad he had the chance to get closer to her. He got out of the shower and got dressed in some fresh sweat pants and a t-shirt before going back out to meet Serena. He found her in the den looking at his music in the clothes she wore to school. "Do you need a ride home?" he asked her.

Serena put the music back where she found it and faced him. "I can walk. My house isn't that far from here."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." She picked up her things and headed to the door with Darien following close behind. "You know, you're welcome to come to church with me if you want to."

He sighed and seriously considered it for a moment. "Maybe another time," he finally said. "I'm behind on some of my AP homework and I need to catch up."

"That's fine," she said with a smile. "Just remember that the invitation is always open. Thanks for having me over." She gave him a hug. "I had fun."

Darien smiled and opened the door for her. "Thanks for coming. See you tomorrow."

* * *

Darien was finishing the last of his homework and was interrupted by a knock at the door. He got up and opened the door surprised to see Andrew standing there. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I texted you and told you I was coming over," he answered as he let himself in.

Darien closed the door behind him. "Oh. My phone has been in my room. I guess I didn't hear it."

"What have you been up to all afternoon?" he asked as he took a seat on the couch.

Darien took a seat on the other end of the couch. "Serena came over so we could work on our project. She left around 4 so I've been trying to catch up on my AP homework with a short dinner break in between."

Andrew crossed his arms. "What? You're only 2 chapters ahead instead of 4?"

"I'm actually on the chapter we're studying in class. Where's Mina?"

"If you read your text messages like a normal person you'd know that she's out shopping with Rae and Beryl, hence why I'm over here. Chad's working."

"Ooh hence," Darien said with a smirk. "Glad to see you catching up on your vocabulary." Andrew just stuck his tongue out at him. "What do you want anyway, Drew? You never barge in like this unless you need something."

"Well a) I'm bored. And b) I just wanted to check on you. You spend so much time with Meatball Head…"

"Serena," Darien corrected. "Her name is Serena."

Andrew rolled his eyes. "You keep defending her and you blow us off to spend more time with her. What's gives?"

"We're just friends," Darien said calmly.

"That's what I don't understand. I thought you of all people would keep your distance from Jesus freaks like her."

"There's much more to her than that. Her beliefs are a part of her and everyone has their quirks, but it just so happened that this project forced me to look beyond her quirks and appreciate who she is as a person."

"Well you shouldn't ditch us all the time in the process of 'appreciating' her. Remember who your real friends are."

Darien rolled his eyes. "My real friends wouldn't be so critical of how I spend my time with another friend. They wouldn't be so judgmental either."

Andrew sighed agitatedly. "Well what makes her so special that you feel the need to cut us off?"

"I don't mean to. I kinda have to hang around her because it's such a lengthy project…"

"Don't give me the 'it's part of the project' crap. I know you have to spend a certain amount of time with her to work on it and that's fine, but it's become a bit excessive."

"It's not like I ever prevented any of you from joining us. The table at lunch is always open."

He scoffed. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I eat a meal with her. I'd prefer to skip her sermons, thank you very much."

"See that's the problem," Darien said in annoyance. "You all have given me nothing but grief ever since you found out she was my partner and you do nothing but insult her and judge her every time you see her. She's become a good friend and I hate it when you keep treating her like crap." He sighed. "I'm just tired, man. I'm tired of the fakeness. I'm tired of the games. And I'm just tired of the way people judge each other without even taking a chance to get to know the truth. There's no pretending around Serena and it's nice to be around someone who isn't worried about the stupid petty things."

Andrew smirked. "You like her, don't you?"

"I don't know yet," he said automatically. His eyes widened. "Oh, God. Drew, I swear if you tell anyone…"

"I know, I know. I won't tell." He raised two fingers together. "Scouts' honor."

He sighed. "You must think I'm crazy."

"Well I wasn't gonna say anything, but…" He dodged a pillow Darien threw at him. "In all honesty I get it, but it still blows my mind since you two are SO different. You two seem to have this great connection now and I guess I just miss my best friend."

"I miss you too, man. I'll hang out with you, but I'm not gonna stay and listen to you and everyone else constantly put Serena down."

"Let's just start over again. After you dominate and go all _Mortal Kombat_ on your instructor for your black belt, we can all hang out and celebrate… just like old times."

Darien smiled. "I'd like that, but it's only fair to warn you that Serena is coming too. It's a trade-off for our project since I'm going to that thing at her church on Saturday night."

Andrew smirked. "I see what you're doing. Trying to show off for your lady…" This time Darien hit Andrew in the face with a pillow. "Ok. It's cool with me, but I can't guarantee that the others will like it."

"I'm only asking you to take responsibility for yourself and to make an effort to get along with her… for my sake. I'll tell everyone else to do the same."

"I'll try, but you have to promise to spend some more time with us too."

Darien thought for a moment. "How about if I spend the afternoons with you guys and then spend the evenings with Serena. I can even bug you in the Crown when you have to work." He nudged him in the arm.

Andrew smiled. "Sounds like a deal. One more thing…"

"Yes you can stay for dinner," Darien said with a mock eye roll. "You know where everything is." He watched with amusement as Andrew raided his kitchen like a madman and scrounged up extra food from his refrigerator. He was thankful to have a friend like Andrew around. At first he wasn't sure if they'd get along, but ever since they worked on a biology project together in 10th grade and discovering a common interest in science and medicine they were able to bond like brothers. It would be nice if Andrew and the others would eventually be able to get along with Serena in a similar way.

**To be continued...**


End file.
